What Does Mark 14:48 Mean in the King James?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me?
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 Greek says more than a petty thief: the crowd approaches Jesus as a violent brigand, making its weapons part of the accusation.
THE MEANING
The scene remains legible now: coercive power approaches Jesus with weapons and treats him as a violent robber. His question exposes the mismatch between the armed seizure and the person being seized.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The person met by force must be dangerous. This verse uncouples the display of weapons from proof of guilt: the armed approach shows how force treats its target, not who Jesus is.
THE ROOT
λῃστήν
lēstēn
GROWS FROM
λῃστ-
lēst-
rob or plunder; the word can describe a violent robber or brigand.
The Greek word λῃστής (lēstēs) can carry the force of “brigand,” beyond the image of a quiet, petty thief. That shade makes the swords and clubs part of the accusation: the crowd comes prepared as if confronting a violent threat.
ALSO GROWS
lēsteuō: to rob or plunder
λῃστεύω
This verb shows the forceful taking associated with the word used for “thief.”
lēsteia: robbery or brigandage
λῃστεία
This noun carries the same association with violent robbery, sharpening the scene behind the English word “thief.”
συλλαβεῖν
syllabein
GROWS FROM
συν- + λαμβάνω (syn- + lambanō)
take together, lay hold of, seize.
The verb συλλαβεῖν (syllabein) is a form of συλλαμβάνω (syllambanō), a compound of “together” and “take.” Here it means to seize or apprehend, giving “take me” the concrete force of laying hands on someone.
ALSO GROWS
lambanō: to take or receive
λαμβάνω
This base verb reveals the act of taking beneath the compound verb used for seizing Jesus.
syllēpsis: seizure; also conception
σύλληψις
This noun from the same word family shows the compound’s range; in this verse, the armed setting makes “seizure” the sense.
THE PATTERN
Coercive power can place the innocent among the guilty, while the text exposes the violence of that framing.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.THE THREAD
I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.The armed arrival stands beside Jesus’ reminder that he was openly present, teaching in the temple. The contrast makes the force of this seizure, and the threat it implies, visible.
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