What Does Luke 23:23 Mean in the King James?
And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The voices do not merely make a demand: their growing strength carries it through to crucifixion.
THE MEANING
Loud insistence can gather force until it decides another person’s fate. Here, the crowd’s voices and the chief priests’ voices prevail, and Jesus is condemned to crucifixion; their success does not make the demand just.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A demand does not become just because the many press it loudly enough to win.
THE ROOT
κατίσχυον
katískhyuon
GROWS FROM
ἰσχυ- (ischy-), from ἰσχύω (ischyō)
Be strong; have power; prevail.
The verb translated “prevailed” is built on ἰσχύω (ischyō), meaning “to be strong” or “to have power.” The voices do more than remain loud: the verse says their pressure gathers strength and overcomes. The word names their power in action without making its outcome just.
ALSO GROWS
ischýs: Strength; power.
ἰσχύς
The related noun makes the force behind “prevailed” visible as strength wielded by the voices.
ischyrós: Strong; mighty.
ἰσχυρός
This related adjective describes the capacity for strength that, in this verse, becomes an overpowering outcome.
THE PATTERN
A chorus can turn speech into force, carrying a demand through to bodily harm.
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,THE THREAD
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.Luke’s “prevailed” (κατίσχυον, katískhyuon) belongs to the same Greek word family as James’s “availeth” (ἰσχύει, ischýei, “has power”). The shared root names power in both verses; Luke shows voices wielding it toward crucifixion, while James describes prayer as powerful.
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