What Does Mark 11:2 Mean in the King James?

And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

Mark 11:2 · 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

THE KEY

The Greek command translated “loose” is the same command Jesus gives at Lazarus’s tomb: release comes before the next movement.

THE MEANING

The verse speaks through a sequence: the colt is tied, then the command names its release and its bringing. Its restraint is not presented as its final condition; release opens the movement that follows.

THE ROOT

λύσατε

lysate

GROWS FROM

λύω

luō: to loosen, release, or unbind

“loose” in this verse is lysate. The Greek word belongs to the same family as ⁨ἀπολύω⁩, to release or dismiss, and ⁨λύτρον⁩, a ransom, the price of release. Its center is loosening what holds, so the colt’s release is a change of condition before it is brought forward.

ALSO GROWS

apolyō: to release or dismiss

ἀπολύω

It carries the same movement of setting someone free from what holds them.

lytron: ransom; a price paid for release

λύτρον

It shows how the root’s idea of loosening extends to the cost of freeing someone.

δεδεμένον

dedemenon

GROWS FROM

δέω

deō: to bind or tie

The word translated “tied” comes from ⁨δέω⁩, bind; its word family includes ⁨δεσμός⁩, a bond, and ⁨δέσμιος⁩, a prisoner. The sentence names the restraint directly, then answers it with the command to release.

ALSO GROWS

desmos: a bond or chain

δεσμός

It makes explicit the kind of restraint the colt is under.

desmios: a bound person; a prisoner

δέσμιος

It shows the same binding language applied to a person held in restraint.

THE PATTERN

In Scripture, release is the threshold that turns binding into movement.

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

John 11:44 · KJVJesus speaks the same Greek command to release Lazarus from what binds him, and the release opens the way for him to go.

And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

Luke 13:16 · KJVThe same Greek root names release from a binding that has held a woman in place.

Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:

Psalm 146:7 · KJVThe verse presents release from binding as one of the LORD’s acts toward those held down.

THE THREAD

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

John 11:44 · KJV

Mark and John use the same Greek command, ⁨λύσατε⁩, from ⁨λύω⁩. In Mark, the colt is loosed before it is brought; at Lazarus’s tomb, the man is loosed before he goes.

This reading is from Selah Verse.

You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.

Get Selah Verse

A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us