What Does Matthew 13:2 Mean in the King James?
And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
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 crowd is not merely large: it is being brought together, while the boat creates the distance that lets one voice reach many.
THE MEANING
A crowd gathers around what is being spoken, and the teacher makes room between himself and the shore so the whole assembly can attend. One sits, many stand, and a shared scene of listening takes shape.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This loosens the belief that meaningful encounter requires private access or physical closeness: the whole multitude remains on the shore, yet is gathered around him.
THE ROOT
συνήχθησαν
synēchthēsan
GROWS FROM
ἀγ- (from ἄγω, agō)
Lead or bring; with συν- (syn, together), συνάγω (synagō) means to bring together.
“were gathered together” in this verse is synēchthēsan. The Greek word holds both motion and togetherness: the multitude is brought into one shared scene. English gives us a crowd, but the root reveals people being drawn together around a common point of attention.
ALSO GROWS
synagōgē: assembly, gathering
συναγωγή
The same compound names a gathered assembly, showing how being brought together forms a shared place of meeting.
agōgē: leading, conduct
ἀγωγή
This branch preserves the root’s sense of being led or brought, clarifying the movement inside “gathered together.”
THE PATTERN
A gathering becomes an assembly when many people share a point of hearing.
Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.THE THREAD
And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.“Came together” translates συναχθῆναι (synachthēnai), from the same συνάγω (synagō), “bring together,” as Matthew’s “were gathered together.” Matthew shows the gathered multitude given a place to hear; Acts shows a city drawn together for the same shared attention.
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