What Does Matthew 10:39 Mean in the King James?
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
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 same word for loss names both what happens to life grasped as a possession and what is chosen for Jesus’ sake.
THE MEANING
Your life is not secured by clutching it as something you can keep intact; for Jesus’ sake, letting it go is the path by which it is found. Here “life” is ψυχή (psychē, the living soul): the whole living self, not only continued survival.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that keeping every part of your life for yourself is the way to keep your life.
THE ROOT
ἀπολέσει
apolesei
GROWS FROM
ἀπό (apo, away or from) + ὄλλυμι (ollumi, destroy or perish)
In the compound ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi), the sense is to lose, be ruined, or perish.
“shall lose / loseth” in this verse is apolesei. Both forms in this verse come from the same verb: first it names what follows the life-finder, then what the person for Jesus’ sake undergoes. Its root joins loss with perishing or ruin, so the paradox holds real loss and finding together rather than making loss a harmless metaphor.
ALSO GROWS
apōleia: loss, ruin, destruction
ἀπώλεια
This noun names the severe edge of loss: the stakes reach ruin or perishing, not simply a misplaced object.
apolōlos: lost, perished
ἀπολωλός
This related form can describe a person in a state of being lost, showing that the same word family reaches beyond losing an object.
THE PATTERN
Life is found through release when holding on becomes a way of losing it.
There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.THE THREAD
Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.Luke uses the same pair: ψυχή (psychē, the living soul) and ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi, to lose or perish). Its phrase “seek to save” makes grasping explicit; Matthew places the opposite movement in relation to Jesus.
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