What Does Luke 8:40 Mean in the King James?

And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him.
Luke 8:40 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

Their waiting is not empty space: it becomes a glad welcome when the one whose name means deliverance returns.

This verse places your waiting beside the arrival you long for: the returning Jesus is met with glad reception, and his name carries the nature of deliverance. Waiting here is shared expectation that opens into welcome.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that waiting itself proves abandonment: here, those waiting are met by the one they await.

ἀπεδέξατο

apedexato

GROWS FROM

δέχομαι

dechomai

receive, welcome

“gladly received” in this verse is apedexato. The Greek verb for receiving belongs to a word family of welcome. The sentence makes the waiting the reason for that welcome: expectation takes shape as reception when Jesus returns.

ALSO GROWS

dechomai: receive, welcome

δέχομαι

This base verb makes clear that the welcome is a reception of someone, not just a reaction to his arrival.

hypodechomai: welcome, receive as a guest

ὑποδέχομαι

Luke 19:6 uses this related form when Zacchaeus joyfully receives Jesus, echoing the welcome in this verse.

יֵשׁוּעַ

Yeshua

GROWS FROM

ישע

yasha

deliver, bring out from constriction into spaciousness

“Jesus” in this verse is Yeshua. The name carries the nature of deliverance. The one the people await is not merely someone returning; his name itself names the movement out of narrowness.

ALSO GROWS

yeshuah: deliverance

יְשׁוּעָה

This noun from the same root makes explicit the nature carried in the name Jesus.

hoshia: he delivered, brought out

הוֹשִׁיעַ

This verb shows the root as an act of bringing out, illuminating what the awaited one embodies.

Waiting for a person or promise takes form as reception when the awaited presence arrives.

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalm 27:14 · KJVWaiting is held as an active expectancy that is met with strengthening.
And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
Luke 2:25 · KJVSimeon’s waiting is directed toward a presence and consolation he can receive.
And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
Luke 19:6 · KJVWhen Jesus arrives, Zacchaeus’s reception makes the welcome visible and immediate.
And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
Luke 19:6 · KJV

The Greek word translated “received” here and in Luke 8:40 belongs to the same dechomai word family of receiving and welcoming. In both scenes, Jesus returns into a life already opening to receive him.

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Luke 8:40 KJV Meaning: Their waiting is not empty space