What Does Luke 5:1 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
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 hunger to hear God’s word has weight: the crowd physically presses in around the one speaking.
THE MEANING
The desire to hear reaches beyond thought and takes up space: the people press close to Jesus. Hearing here is embodied and communal, gathered at the water’s edge.
THE ROOT
ἐπίκειμαι
epikeimai
GROWS FROM
κεῖμαι
To lie, be placed, or be situated.
“pressed upon” in this verse is epikeimai. English “pressed” can sound like a crowd-management detail, but this verb is built on a root meaning to lie or be placed: the listeners’ desire takes the form of bodies close against Jesus. This root also appears in words for reclining or being set before someone, making the scene’s act of hearing physically situated rather than abstract.
ALSO GROWS
keimai: To lie, be placed, or be situated.
κεῖμαι
This is the base verb beneath “pressed upon,” and it also describes the infant lying in a manger in Luke 2:12.
epikeimai: To lie upon, press upon, or be imposed.
ἐπίκειμαι
This is the form used here: the crowd’s nearness to Jesus is conveyed as physical pressure.
anakeimai: To recline, especially at a meal.
ἀνάκειμαι
This related form shows the same root describing a body’s position, reinforcing that the verse presents listening as something lived in the body.
THE PATTERN
When people seek God’s word, they gather toward the place where it is spoken.
And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.THE THREAD
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.The verb behind “lying” is κεῖμαι (keimai, “lie or be placed”), the base inside ἐπίκειμαι (epikeimai, “lie upon or press upon”) in Luke 5:1. One verse places the infant in a manger; the other places listeners against Jesus, and the shared root makes both scenes bodily acts of nearness.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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