What Does Luke 4:26 Mean in the King James?

But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.

Luke 4:26 · 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

The person outside the expected circle is not a detour in the sending; she is its destination.

THE MEANING

Being outside the expected circle does not place you beyond the reach of a sending. The verse places a widowed foreigner in Sarepta as its destination, showing that belonging and status do not determine who can be reached.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The belief that being a widow and a foreigner places you beyond divine attention is undone here: she is precisely where Elijah is sent.

THE ROOT

ἐπέμφθη

epémphthē

GROWS FROM

πέμπ-

⁨πέμπω⁩ (pempō) means to send or dispatch; ⁨πέμπ-⁩ is its Greek stem.

The verse uses the passive form of ⁨πέμπω⁩: Elijah is sent toward a particular destination. The verb makes that direction part of the scene, the widow is not incidental to the sending, but the one it reaches.

ALSO GROWS

ekpémpō: send out, dispatch

ἐκπέμπω

This compound keeps ⁨πέμπ-⁩ and makes the outward direction explicit.

apopémpō: send away, dismiss

ἀποπέμπω

This compound also shares ⁨πέμπ-⁩ and shows how the verb can mark movement away from a point of origin.

propémpō: send forward or accompany on a journey

προπέμπω

This compound shares ⁨πέμπ-⁩ and gives the sending a sense of directed passage.

צָרְפַת

Ṣārephath

GROWS FROM

צָרַף

⁨צָרַף⁩ (ṣāraph) means to smelt or refine metal.

“Sarepta” in this verse is Ṣārephath. ⁨Σάρεπτα⁩ (Sárepta), the Greek form of the place-name, reflects Hebrew ⁨צָרְפַת⁩ (Ṣārephath), traditionally linked to the smelting root ⁨צָרַף⁩. That gives the name a refining resonance, while the verse’s explicit emphasis remains the surprising destination of the sending.

ALSO GROWS

ṣōrēf: smelter or metalsmith

צֹרֵף

This word shares the consonants ⁨צ־ר־ף⁩ and names a person who works metal by smelting.

maṣrēf: crucible or refining vessel

מַצְרֵף

This word shares the root consonants and names the vessel in which metal is refined.

THE PATTERN

Divine provision crosses the borders that make outsiders seem unreachable.

Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

1 Kings 17:9 · KJVA widow in a city belonging to Sidon becomes the named destination of Elijah’s sending and the source of his provision.

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

2 Kings 5:14 · KJVNaaman, a Syrian outside Israel, receives cleansing through the prophet’s word.

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Acts 10:34-35 · KJVThe statement that God receives people in every nation makes explicit the crossing of boundaries shown in the stories of the widow and Naaman.

THE THREAD

Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

John 20:21 · KJV

The Greek verb ⁨πέμπω⁩ (pempō), used for Elijah being sent to the widow, appears again in Jesus’ words, “send I you.” The same verb links a sending toward someone beyond the expected circle with a sending outward from the gathered disciples.

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