What Does Luke 23:54 Mean in the King James?

And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.

Luke 23:54 · KJV

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

Luke uses the verb for dawn to describe the Sabbath drawing near, making its arrival a beginning at the edge of the day.

THE MEANING

You stand at a seam where preparation and the Sabbath touch: the next span is already drawing near. The Greek verb gives that arrival a dawn-like image, a new beginning at the edge of the old.

THE ROOT

ἐπέφωσκεν

epéphōsken

GROWS FROM

φωσκ-

The stem ⁨φωσκ-⁩ (phōsk-) carries the sense of growing light or dawning.

“drew on” in this verse is epéphōsken. Luke marks the Sabbath’s beginning with a verb that also carries the image of dawn. The English phrase conveys its approach; the Greek adds the sense of a new span coming into view.

ALSO GROWS

phōs: light

φῶς

It shares the ⁨φωσ-⁩ light stem, linking the Sabbath’s arrival to the image of light.

phōsphoros: light-bearer; morning star

φωσφόρος

Its opening ⁨φωσ-⁩ carries the same light stem, extending the dawn image into a word for the light-bearer.

παρασκευῆς

paraskeuēs

GROWS FROM

σκευ-

The stem ⁨σκευ-⁩ (skeu-) carries the idea of equipment or what is prepared.

Preparation here carries a sense of readiness and provisioning, not mere waiting. The word sets a day of getting ready alongside the approaching Sabbath.

ALSO GROWS

paraskeuazō: prepare; equip

παρασκευάζω

This verb shares the stem and makes preparation an act of arranging what is needed.

skeuos: vessel; implement

σκεῦος

This word shares the stem’s sense of equipment, giving preparation a concrete edge: the things made ready for use.

σάββατον

sabbaton

GROWS FROM

σαββατ-

The Greek stem ⁨σαββατ-⁩ (sabbat-) is borrowed from Hebrew ⁨שָׁבַת⁩ (shāvat), meaning to cease or stop.

The Greek word carries a Hebrew verb of ceasing into the verse. The approaching Sabbath is a named day and a coming pause, a boundary where activity gives way to rest.

ALSO GROWS

sabbatizō: keep the Sabbath; rest on the Sabbath

σαββατίζω

This verb shares the Sabbath stem and names the practice of observing its cessation.

sabbatismos: Sabbath rest; Sabbath observance

σαββατισμός

This noun shares the stem and expresses the rest that the approaching Sabbath brings.

THE PATTERN

Scripture marks thresholds as one span yields to the next, often through the movement from darkness toward light.

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:5 · KJVThe first day takes shape across the threshold where evening gives way to morning.

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Psalm 30:5 · KJVThe night gives way to morning as the time when weeping yields to joy.

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

Matthew 28:1 · KJVThe first day begins at the Sabbath’s edge, with dawn marking the arrival of a new span.

THE THREAD

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

Matthew 28:1 · KJV

The same Greek verb ⁨ἐπιφώσκω⁩ (epiphōskō, begin to dawn) describes the Sabbath beginning here and the first day beginning in Matthew. The shared word lets both thresholds carry the same image: a new span opens at the edge of the old.

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