What Does Luke 4:11 Mean in the King James?
And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
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 promise of being borne is turned into a dare to provoke the fall it promises to prevent.
THE MEANING
The image places hands beneath you before your foot meets stone: support meets vulnerability at the point of possible impact. In the surrounding exchange, the promise is used to urge a deliberate fall, exposing how protection can be turned into a demand for proof. Being borne is not the same as being licensed to create the danger.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that protection makes deliberately staged danger harmless, or that care must prove itself by catching you.
THE ROOT
ἀροῦσίν
arousin
GROWS FROM
αἴρω
airō: lift, raise, carry; in other uses, take away or remove.
“bear up” in this verse is arousin. The form ἀροῦσίν (arousin) comes from αἴρω (airō), whose range includes lifting, carrying, and taking away. English gives the upward motion, while the wider verb family also lets the action read as removal: the body is carried clear of the point of impact.
ALSO GROWS
epairō: lift up, raise
ἐπαίρω
This compound preserves αἴρω’s lifting action and makes the upward direction explicit, echoing “bear thee up.”
arsis: lifting, raising
ἄρσις
This noun from the same verb family names the lift itself, showing the action as carrying upward rather than simply avoiding a stone.
THE PATTERN
Care is pictured as hands or arms carrying a vulnerable body before a fall becomes injury.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.THE THREAD
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.The Greek verb translated “bear thee up” here belongs to the same root as αἴρων (airōn), translated “taketh away” in John 1:29. The same word family joins lifting and carrying with taking away: here the body is borne clear of impact.
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