What Does Luke 5:5 Mean in the King James?
And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
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
After exhaustion yields nothing, a spoken word makes the next lowering possible.
THE MEANING
Your empty result is real, but it does not decide what the present can hold. When a word you trust gives the next action its direction, the night’s failure remains real without ruling what follows.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief this undoes is that an unfruitful stretch proves nothing more can bear fruit.
THE ROOT
ῥήματι
rhēmati
GROWS FROM
ῥη
rhē
Speech or utterance: something spoken.
ῥῆμα names the spoken thing, an utterance that can be heard and acted on. Simon has no catch to point to, but he has heard a word that sets his next action in motion.
ALSO GROWS
rhēsis: Speech or utterance.
ῥῆσις
This related form keeps the sense of spoken expression visible in the word’s family.
rhētōr: Speaker or orator.
ῥήτωρ
This word names the one who gives speech, bringing the act of speaking into view.
χαλάσω
chalasō
GROWS FROM
χαλα
chala
To loosen or slacken; by extension, to lower or let down.
“lower” in this verse is chalasō. The verb for lowering the net also carries the sense of loosening or slackening. The next movement is a lowering into the water, not a tightening of effort.
ALSO GROWS
chalaō: To loosen, slacken, or lower.
χαλάω
This is the base verb behind Simon’s form, holding lowering and slackening together.
chalaros: Loose or slack.
χαλαρός
This related adjective makes the looseness in the verb’s word family explicit.
THE PATTERN
A spoken word redirects effort that has reached its limit toward fruit it could not produce alone.
A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.THE THREAD
Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.The phrase “let him down” uses the same Greek verb, χαλάω, as Simon’s “let down the net.” In both verses, lowering is the physical movement through which an opening becomes possible.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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