What Does Matthew 10:14 Mean in the King James?
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
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
To refuse the messenger is to refuse the sender; the shaken dust makes that refusal visible.
THE MEANING
When you refuse both the messenger and the message, the refusal reaches the one who sent them. The dust shaken from the feet marks that refusal as a sign against the house or city, and the messengers depart.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that rejecting a messenger leaves the sender untouched: the passage treats refusal as a response to the one who sent them.
THE ROOT
δέξηται
dexētai
GROWS FROM
δεχ-
to receive, take in, or welcome
“receive” in this verse is dexētai. The same δεχ- stem appears in Greek words for receiving or welcoming. Here, receiving the messengers and hearing their words are paired responses: the welcome extends to both the people sent and the message they carry.
ALSO GROWS
apodechomai: receive or accept
ἀποδέχομαι
This compound keeps the same receiving stem, showing that the response to a messenger can be acceptance, not mere exposure to their presence.
prosdechomai: welcome or receive
προσδέχομαι
This branch makes the welcome explicit, illuminating how refusing to receive the messengers closes a relational door.
ἀκούσῃ
akousē
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
to hear or listen
English can make hearing sound like sound merely reaching the ear, but this Greek word family also includes responsive listening. The verse pairs refusal to receive the messengers with refusal to hear their words, closing both welcome and listening.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: hearing or a report
ἀκοή
This noun keeps the shared hearing stem and shows how what is heard can also be the message being carried.
hypakouō: listen and respond; obey
ὑπακούω
This compound shows that the Greek family can carry hearing into response, deepening the contrast between hearing a message and refusing it.
THE PATTERN
The response to a sent messenger reaches the sender: receiving, hearing, or refusing the message carries relational consequence.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.THE THREAD
He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.Matthew 10:40 repeats the same Greek receiving stem, δέχομαι (dechomai), and makes the chain explicit: receiving the messengers reaches Jesus, and receiving Jesus reaches the sender. That connection opens the refusal in this verse as a response that reaches beyond the house or city itself.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us