What Does Matthew 10:23 Mean in the King James?
But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
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
“Persecute” means “pursue”: the chase drives you from one city while the journey across Israel is still underway.
THE MEANING
When pursuit closes around you in one city, movement into another remains part of the journey. The saying ties the pace of that journey to a limit: the cities of Israel are not traversed before the Son of Man comes.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Leaving one city under pressure means the mission has failed; here, departure changes the route while the journey continues.
THE ROOT
διώκω
diōkō
GROWS FROM
διωκ-
diōk-
to pursue or chase
The Greek word translated “persecute” carries the image of pursuit. That same pursuit word can describe hostile chasing or pressing toward a goal, so the root shows the force of the chase without making pursuit itself one-sided.
ALSO GROWS
diōgmos: Persecution; the act or experience of being pursued.
διωγμός
This noun keeps the chase inside the English word “persecution”: it is pressure that actively follows after someone.
diōkō: To pursue; in Philippians 3:14, “press toward.”
διώκω
The same word can name purposeful forward pursuit, revealing that the root describes the chase while its direction and purpose shape its force.
THE PATTERN
When danger closes one place, movement carries life or the work into another place.
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judæa and Samaria, except the apostles.THE THREAD
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.“Press toward” translates the same Greek word as “persecute” here: διώκω (diōkō), meaning “pursue.” The shared root reveals pursuit as the common motion, whether it drives someone from a city or carries someone toward a goal.
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