What Does Luke 8:54 Mean in the King James?
And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
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
Before the command “Arise,” the crowd is sent outside and a hand takes hers: the scene moves from public commotion to a direct, personal summons.
THE MEANING
You are addressed by a scene in which a hand reaches the dead and a voice says, “Maid, arise.” The command is bodily and immediate: the one who cannot lift herself is called back into life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what is dead or finished is beyond anyone’s reach: here a hand reaches the dead, and a voice calls her to rise.
THE ROOT
ἔγειρε
egeire
GROWS FROM
ἐγερ-/ἐγειρ- (from ἐγείρω, egeirō)
To wake or awaken; to raise up.
The Greek verb behind “arise” also means to wake or be raised, including being raised from death. The word holds the command and the raising together: this is more than standing up by one’s own effort; it is being awakened into life.
ALSO GROWS
egersis: A rising; resurrection.
ἔγερσις
The related noun names the rising itself, showing that the command belongs to a word family for awakening and resurrection.
egerthēis: Having been raised or awakened.
ἐγερθείς
This form describes someone as the recipient of raising, echoing how the girl is called into life by another.
ἐκβαλών
ekbalōn
GROWS FROM
ἐκβάλλω (ekballō), from ἐκ (ek, out) + βάλλω (ballō, throw)
To cast or drive out.
“put them all out” in this verse is ekbalōn. The Greek word adds the image of casting the crowd outside. Before the hand takes hers and the call comes, the room is cleared of the onlookers.
ALSO GROWS
ballō: Throw or cast.
βάλλω
This is the verb within ἐκβάλλω; it gives the removal a sense of active casting.
ekbolē: A throwing out; a casting away.
ἐκβολή
The related noun can describe something cast overboard, underscoring the force of the removal before the intimate moment that follows.
κρατήσας
kratēsas
GROWS FROM
κρατέω (krateō), with the stem κρατ-
To take hold of or hold firmly; the related word family also carries the sense of strength and power.
“took her by the hand” in this verse is kratēsas. The verb describes a firm taking hold, not a passing touch. Its word family also gives Greek words for strength, so the handhold stands beside the call as an act of contact and strength.
ALSO GROWS
kratos: Strength, might, power.
κράτος
This related noun makes the strength carried by the word family audible in the act of taking her hand.
krataioō: To strengthen or make strong.
κραταιόω
This related verb connects the firm grasp with strengthening, just as the handhold comes before the call to rise.
THE PATTERN
Life is summoned from what seems final by a voice and power that reach what cannot raise itself.
Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.THE THREAD
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.“Raised up” uses the same Greek verb, ἐγείρω (egeirō), as “arise” in Luke. Romans carries that raising into mortal bodies, widening the scene from one girl held by the hand to the life that reaches the reader.
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