What Does Matthew 11:22 Mean in the King James?
But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
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
Judgment is not equally bearable for everyone: greater exposure to truth can make its refusal weigh more heavily.
THE MEANING
This verse makes accountability comparative: the day of judgment is more bearable for some than for others. What you have received matters, and refusing what has been made clear carries weight.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that being closer to truth automatically makes the outcome gentler; what is received also deepens accountability when it is refused.
THE ROOT
ἀνεκτότερον
anektoteron
GROWS FROM
ἀνέχω
anechō
to hold up, endure, bear
“more tolerable” in this verse is anektoteron. The comparative means “more bearable,” so the verse measures the judgment by what can be endured. The comparison gives refusal a weight: what you have received affects how bearable that day is.
ALSO GROWS
anektos: bearable, tolerable
ἀνεκτός
This is the adjective behind the verse’s comparison: the outcomes differ in how much they can be borne.
anechomai: to endure, bear with
ἀνέχομαι
This related form makes the root’s sense of carrying or holding up under something audible inside “tolerable.”
κρίσεως
kriseōs
GROWS FROM
κρίνω
krinō
to separate, distinguish, decide
The Greek word for judgment carries the sense of a decision that distinguishes between cases. That fits the verse’s comparison: the day does not flatten every response into the same measure.
ALSO GROWS
krima: a judgment, decision, or verdict
κρίμα
This branch names the outcome of the distinguishing that κρίσις brings into view.
kritēs: a judge, one who decides
κριτής
This branch names the one who makes the distinction carried by the root.
THE PATTERN
The greater the truth and opportunity a person receives, the more fully their response is weighed.
But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.THE THREAD
The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.“Judgment” here is the same Greek word family, κρίσις (krisis), as in Matthew 11:22. The comparison with Nineveh shows judgment distinguishing responses: what has been received, and what is done with it, changes the measure.
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