What Does Matthew 10:18 Mean in the King James?
And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
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
Being brought before rulers becomes more than exposure: it makes your witness audible to rulers and nations.
THE MEANING
When you are brought before public power for Jesus’ sake, your presence and words become testimony heard by rulers and nations. The pressure and the witness occupy the same moment; one does not cancel the other.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being summoned by power means your voice has already been taken; here, the summons becomes the setting in which your testimony is heard.
THE ROOT
μαρτύριον
martyrion
GROWS FROM
μαρτυρ-
martyr-
Witness; giving evidence.
The English noun can sound like a statement detached from its speaker, but this Greek word belongs to a family centered on the witness who gives evidence. The testimony is carried by the person brought before power, with rulers and nations as its audience.
ALSO GROWS
martys: Witness; one who gives testimony.
μάρτυς
The testimony in this verse is linked to the person who bears witness before the authorities.
martyreō: To bear witness; to testify.
μαρτυρέω
This verbal branch shows testimony as an act that happens in the encounter, not merely a statement about it.
THE PATTERN
A witness carried into public power makes the encounter itself an audience for testimony.
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.THE THREAD
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.The word translated “witnesses” shares the μαρτυρ- (martyr-) family with “testimony” in Matthew 10:18. Acts shows the same witness moving across the earth; Matthew places it before rulers and nations.
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