What Does Matthew 10:38 Mean in the King James?
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of 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
Here, following Jesus is measured against the cross: allegiance includes carrying the stake of death, not simply staying close to him.
THE MEANING
The cross is an instrument of execution, so the image keeps its full severity for the reader now. Following Jesus includes exposure to the death-bearing cost of that allegiance; self-preservation is not guaranteed by the claim to follow. “Not worthy” describes a mismatch with his path, not a verdict that the reader has no human value.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that closeness to Jesus can be separated from the cross-shaped cost of allegiance.
THE ROOT
σταυρός
stauros
GROWS FROM
σταυρ-
staur-
An upright stake or post; the instrument of crucifixion.
English “cross” can soften into a symbol, while σταυρός names the stake itself. Its shared stem with the verb “crucify” keeps the carried cross joined to the violence of what it means to be crucified.
ALSO GROWS
stauroō: to crucify
σταυρόω
The same stem links the carried stake to the act of crucifixion, preserving the force of Jesus’ image.
staurōsis: crucifixion
σταύρωσις
This noun from the same stem names the execution that the cross entails.
ἄξιος
axios
GROWS FROM
ἀξι-
axi-
Having corresponding weight or worth; fit to the measure.
“Worthy” carries the sense of fitting or corresponding in measure. The verse sets the cross alongside following Jesus as the measure of that alignment, not as a rating of the reader’s human value.
ALSO GROWS
axioō: to consider or count worthy
ἀξιόω
The verb keeps the idea of being assessed as fitting for a measure.
axia: worth or value
ἀξία
This related noun shows the word family’s connection to worth and measure.
THE PATTERN
Faithful allegiance can carry the shape of surrender, suffering, and death.
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.THE THREAD
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.The Greek noun for “cross” here, σταυρός (stauros), and Paul’s verb “crucified,” σταυρόω (stauroō), share the σταυρ- stem. That shared root opens the carried stake into a changed relation between the reader and the world’s claim.
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