What Does Luke 23:41 Mean in the King James?
And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
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 Greek repeats one verb for “what we did” and “he did,” showing how responsibility can be owned without being transferred.
THE MEANING
Your actions and their consequence remain joined, while the innocence of the person beside you stays distinct. Owning what belongs to you does not make someone else guilty, and their innocence does not erase what belongs to you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If I am guilty, the innocent person beside me must share my guilt.
THE ROOT
ἐπράξαμεν
epraxamen
GROWS FROM
πράσσω (prassō), with the aorist stem πραξ- (prax-)
To do, carry out, or practice.
“deeds / done” in this verse is epraxamen. The Greek repeats the same verb in “what we did” and “he did nothing amiss,” though English shifts from “deeds” to “done.” The contrast is exact: the speaker owns his own actions, while the same verb marks the absence of wrongdoing in the man beside him.
ALSO GROWS
praxis: Action or deed.
πρᾶξις
This related noun names action itself, keeping the verse’s “deeds” grounded in concrete acts.
pragma: A matter, thing done, or deed.
πρᾶγμα
This related word keeps an action attached to the matter it produces, echoing the verse’s link between what is done and what is received.
δικαίως
dikaiōs
GROWS FROM
δικ- (dik-), the δίκη (dikē) word family
Justice; what is right, fitting, or aligned.
“justly” in this verse is dikaiōs. The word places the speaker’s consequence in relation to what is right in light of his actions. This same Greek word family appears when the centurion calls Jesus “a righteous man,” holding consequence and innocence within one language of justice.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: Just or righteous.
δίκαιος
Luke uses this word for Jesus in verse 47, linking the speaker’s “justly” to the recognition of Jesus’ innocence.
dikaiosynē: Righteousness or justice; alignment.
δικαιοσύνη
This related word carries the same sense of right alignment that frames the speaker’s judgment of his own actions.
ἄτοπον
atopon
GROWS FROM
τόπος
topos
Place or position; what has a fitting place.
“amiss” in this verse is atopon. The word pictures nothing improper or out of place in what Jesus did. It makes the claim of innocence concrete: there is no act of his that is out of order.
ALSO GROWS
topos: Place or location.
τόπος
It supplies the image of a place or position, beneath the sense of something being “out of place.”
atopos: Out of place, improper, or unreasonable.
ἄτοπος
The verse’s “amiss” carries this sense of nothing improper in Jesus’ conduct.
THE PATTERN
The verse keeps accountability and innocence distinct by relating each person to what that person does.
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?Who will render to every man according to his deeds:Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:THE THREAD
Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.The Greek behind “justly” (δικαίως) and “righteous” (δίκαιος) belongs to the same justice-family. The condemned man names his own consequence as fitting, and the centurion names Jesus as righteous; one root holds accountability and innocence side by side.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us