What Does Luke 8:21 Mean in the King James?
And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
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
Kinship here is the word of God received through hearing and made visible through doing.
THE MEANING
You are named among Jesus’ kin as God’s word reaches your hearing and takes shape in your actions. This kinship is a living relation, held together by receiving the word and doing it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This loosens the assumption that closeness to Jesus belongs only to biological family or inherited status; the verse identifies kinship through hearing and doing God’s word.
THE ROOT
ποιοῦντες
poiountes
GROWS FROM
ποι-
poi-
To do, make, or bring about.
The Greek word for “do” also underlies words for a maker and a made work. The passage presents God’s word as something that takes outward form in the actions of those who hear it.
ALSO GROWS
poiētēs: Doer, maker; also poet.
ποιητής
James uses this same family for the “doers” of the word, making the link between hearing and enacted response explicit.
poiēma: Thing made, work.
ποίημα
This branch gives doing a visible result: what is heard can take shape in a person’s actions.
ἀκούοντες
akouontes
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
akou-
To hear, listen, or attend to.
English can make “hear” sound passive, but this clause joins hearing directly to doing. A related verb, hypakouō, uses the same hear-stem for obeying, showing how listening can move toward response without making the two words identical.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: Hearing; a report or message heard.
ἀκοή
This branch keeps hearing connected both to the act of listening and to what reaches the listener.
hypakouō: Obey, heed; listen under.
ὑπακούω
Its shared hear-stem reveals a linguistic path from listening toward responsive action.
THE PATTERN
A heard word becomes a lived foundation when it is acted on.
But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.THE THREAD
Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:Luke pairs the same Greek verbs for hearing and doing here as in Luke 8:21. The repeated pairing opens the image further: hearing Jesus’ words and doing them shape both kinship and the foundation of a life.
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