What Does Matthew 14:36 Mean in the King James?
And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
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
“Made perfectly whole” is a verb for being brought safely through: here, healing is deliverance reaching the body through even the smallest point of contact.
THE MEANING
Here, wholeness is deliverance that reaches the body at the garment’s edge: everyone who touches is carried through affliction. The verse speaks of that wholeness as complete in reach, meeting each person who makes contact.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that healing must arrive through a dramatic or complete act: even a touch at the garment’s edge meets complete deliverance.
THE ROOT
διεσώθησαν
diesōthēsan
GROWS FROM
σῴζω
To deliver, rescue, preserve, or bring safely through.
“made perfectly whole” in this verse is diesōthēsan. The verb joins διά (dia, through) with σώζω (sōzō, deliver): the people are brought through affliction, not merely improved. The same Greek verb describes shipwreck survivors reaching shore in Acts 27:44, linking bodily healing with being carried safely through danger.
ALSO GROWS
sōzō: Deliver, rescue, preserve, or make well.
σῴζω
This is the verb family behind the healing here; it holds bodily restoration and deliverance together.
sōtēria: Deliverance, rescue, safety.
σωτηρία
The related noun keeps the emphasis on being brought out of danger, the movement contained in this healing.
sōtēr: Deliverer, rescuer.
σωτήρ
This related word names the one who brings people through, echoing the source of the wholeness in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Wholeness arrives as deliverance that carries the afflicted safely through.
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.THE THREAD
But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.The woman also touches the edge of Jesus’ garment, and Jesus names what happens with the same sōzō word family: “thy faith hath made thee whole.” The shared root makes the connection exact: both touches open into deliverance that carries the body through.
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