What Does Matthew 12:3 Mean in the King James?
But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
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
Jesus turns reading into recognition: the question is whether the reader can see hunger inside the sacred story.
THE MEANING
Here, reading reaches beyond recalling words; it recognizes the hunger named in the story. David is not alone in need: the verse keeps his companions in view too.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse unsettles the belief that reading Scripture is complete once its words are recalled: Jesus asks whether the reader recognizes the hunger inside the story.
THE ROOT
ἐπείνασεν
epeinasen
GROWS FROM
πειν-
pein-
Hunger; the felt lack of food and need for sustenance.
“hungered” in this verse is epeinasen. The Greek word names hunger as a bodily need shared by David and his companions. Its word family carries that need into other scenes too, so hunger is not sealed inside this remembered story.
ALSO GROWS
peinōn: hungry; one who is hungering
πεινῶν
The same root presents hunger as a state a person is in, not an idea apart from the body.
peina: hunger; famine
πείνα
The noun names the need itself, showing the same root in both the experience of hunger and its condition.
ἀνέγνωτε
anegnōte
GROWS FROM
γινώσκω
ginōskō
To know, perceive, or recognize.
“read” in this verse is anegnōte. The Greek verb for reading belongs to the family of knowing and perceiving. Jesus’ question opens a gap between encountering the text and recognizing what it holds: this story includes hunger.
ALSO GROWS
gnōsis: knowledge; knowing
γνῶσις
This related form makes the connection between reading and knowing visible in the language.
anaginōskō: to read; recognize through reading
ἀναγινώσκω
This is the verb family behind the word used here, joining the act of reading with recognition.
דָּוִד
Dāwīd
GROWS FROM
דּוֹד
dōd
Beloved, dear one; also a kinship term.
David’s name belongs to a Hebrew word family of belovedness and kinship. Here, the beloved one is remembered in hunger; the name does not make his need disappear from the story.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: beloved; dear one; uncle
דּוֹד
The shared consonants carry affection and kinship within the name’s word family.
dōdîm: loves; caresses
דּוֹדִים
The same consonants appear in language of intimate love, extending the name’s sense beyond a label.
THE PATTERN
Sacred memory keeps bodily hunger visible inside the life of faith.
So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:THE THREAD
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:Matthew 12:3 uses ἐπείνασεν (epeinasen), meaning “he hungered”; Matthew 25:35 uses the same Greek root, πειν- (pein-), in “I was an hungred.” The shared word carries hunger from David’s remembered story into another scene where it is still present.
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