What Does Mark 10:40 Mean in the King James?
But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.
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 place is prepared before it is given, so a request cannot make it yours.
THE MEANING
“But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.” A place of honor is not secured by asking the speaker to award it; it is given to those for whom it is prepared. The verse leaves those recipients unnamed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that asking for the highest place, or having influence with the one who speaks, is enough to secure it.
THE ROOT
ἡτοίμασται
hētoimastai
GROWS FROM
ἑτοιμαζ- (ἑτοιμάζω)
Make ready, prepare.
“prepared” in this verse is hētoimastai. The Greek says the place has been made ready for its recipients. The related words for “ready” and “prepare beforehand” keep readiness and preparation in the same word family, revealing a place made ready before it is occupied.
ALSO GROWS
hetoimos: Ready, prepared.
ἕτοιμος
This branch names the state that preparation brings about: readiness.
proetoimazō: Prepare beforehand.
προετοιμάζω
This compound appears in Ephesians 2:10, where good works are prepared beforehand; it echoes the idea that what is received can be made ready in advance.
διδόναι
didonai
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
Give, grant, put into another’s possession.
“give” in this verse is didonai. The verse first denies that the speaker gives these places by personal choice, then says they are given to those for whom they are prepared. The repeated giving language keeps the focus on receiving what is appointed, rather than claiming it.
ALSO GROWS
apodidōmi: Give back, render, or repay.
ἀποδίδωμι
The compound shows how the same giving verb can describe something passed back or rendered to someone.
metadidōmi: Share, impart.
μεταδίδωμι
This branch makes visible that giving can mean sharing something with another, while Mark specifies who receives the prepared place.
THE PATTERN
Provision is pictured as made ready before it is occupied or received.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.THE THREAD
In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.John uses the same Greek verb family for preparing a place. Mark leaves the preparer unnamed, while John makes preparation itself the action; together, the verses turn attention from claiming a place to its being made ready.
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