What Does Luke 23:35 Mean in the King James?
And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.
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 rulers turn “he delivered others” into a taunt because they count only self-rescue as proof of deliverance.
THE MEANING
The verse lets you hear the rulers make deliverance a test: if he is God’s anointed and chosen one, he must rescue himself. They name his deliverance of others, then use his exposure to suffering as evidence against him. Their demand assumes that real deliverance must preserve the deliverer first.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being chosen by God means being spared suffering and proving it through self-rescue. The verse exposes that assumption as the rulers’ test, not the meaning of deliverance.
THE ROOT
σῴζω
sōzō
GROWS FROM
σωζ-
sōz-
Deliver, rescue, or bring safely through danger.
“saved” in this verse is sōzō. The same verb appears twice: “He delivered others; let him deliver himself.” The taunt grants the first and demands the second, making self-preservation its test of deliverance.
ALSO GROWS
sōtēr: Deliverer; one who brings another through danger.
σωτήρ
This word family names the one who delivers, keeping the focus on those brought through as well as the deliverer.
sōtēria: Deliverance; rescue.
σωτηρία
This noun names the deliverance that the rulers acknowledge in others, then demand for him as self-rescue.
ἐκμυκτηρίζω
ekmyktērizō
GROWS FROM
μυκτηρ
myktēr
Nose or nostril; the base of a gesture of contempt.
Behind “derided” is a nose-turning sneer: ἐκμυκτηρίζω (ekmyktērizō, to mock by turning up the nose) keeps contempt bodily. The same verb family appears in the Greek wording of Psalm 22:7, where the KJV says “laugh me to scorn.”
ALSO GROWS
myktēr: Nose or nostril.
μυκτήρ
This is the bodily image inside the sneer translated “derided.”
exemyktērisan: They mocked or turned up their noses.
ἐξεμυκτήρισάν
This form appears in the Greek Psalm 22:7, joining Luke’s derision to the Psalm’s scene of scorn.
Χριστός
Christos
GROWS FROM
χρί-
chri-
Anoint; mark or appoint by anointing.
“Christ” in this verse is Christos. The title names him as the anointed one, while the taunt turns that identity into a dare to escape. The verse places the title and his exposed body side by side without making the mockers’ test the title’s definition.
ALSO GROWS
chriō: Anoint.
χρίω
This verb is the source of the title used in the rulers’ taunt.
chrisma: Anointing.
χρῖσμα
This noun makes explicit the anointing contained in “the anointed one.”
THE PATTERN
Mockery turns deliverance into a test of self-preservation, demanding that the threatened one escape before anyone will credit deliverance for others.
He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?THE THREAD
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,The Greek wording of this Psalm uses the same word family as Luke’s “derided”: ἐκμυκτηρίζω (ekmyktērizō, to sneer or mock by turning up the nose). The Psalm’s lip and head gestures make the contempt in Luke’s word visible.
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