What Does Mark 16:7 Mean in the King James?
But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
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 one you are sent to meet is already ahead of you, and Peter’s name shows that failure does not erase a person from the summons.
THE MEANING
You are being sent toward a meeting whose path is already opened by his presence: he goes ahead, and the promise is that you will see him. Peter is named beside the disciples, so the one who has failed is still included in the summons.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that one failure makes you permanently unfit to be called back into the gathering dissolves when Peter is named with the disciples.
THE ROOT
προάγει
proagei
GROWS FROM
ἄγω
agō
to lead, bring, or carry
The form προάγει (proagei, “goes ahead”) carries the seed ἄγω (agō, “to lead or bring”). “Goeth before” keeps the sequence, while the Greek also reveals a guide leading forward: the promised meeting begins on a path he has already opened.
ALSO GROWS
prosagō: bring or lead toward
προσάγω
The same seed can describe movement toward someone; here, the leading ahead brings the way toward a meeting.
synagō: gather, bring together
συνάγω
The seed of leading also appears in gathering people together, echoing the company summoned to meet him.
Πέτρος
Petros
GROWS FROM
πετρ-
petr-
stone or rock
Πέτρος (Petros, “stone”) carries a stone image, but the verse makes no test of Peter’s steadiness before giving him the message. He is named and included before any report of what he does next.
ALSO GROWS
petra: rock, rocky mass
πέτρα
The related rock word makes the stone image in Peter’s name visible beneath the English form.
petrōdēs: rocky, stony
πετρώδης
This branch describes what is marked by stone, keeping the name’s concrete image in view as Peter is summoned.
μαθηταῖς
mathētais
GROWS FROM
μανθάνω
manthanō
to learn, to come to know through learning
“disciples” in this verse is mathētais. μαθηταῖς (mathētais, “learners”) comes from μανθάνω (manthanō, “to learn”). Peter is addressed alongside them: the summons makes room for a learner who has failed, not only for someone who has never stumbled.
ALSO GROWS
mathētēs: learner, pupil
μαθητής
The noun names someone in the process of learning, giving “disciple” a more active sense.
mathēma: lesson, what is learned
μάθημα
The related word for a lesson ties the learner to an ongoing process of receiving and understanding.
THE PATTERN
The one who leads is already ahead of those who follow.
And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.THE THREAD
And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him,The same Greek word, προάγω (proagō, “go ahead, lead forward”), appears when Jesus goes before his followers. That scene sharpens the promise here: being sent to meet him begins with him already at the front of the path.
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