What Does Matthew 14:5 Mean in the King James?
And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
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’s “counting” John as a prophet is phrased as holding him that way, and their shared judgment makes Herod hesitate to kill.
THE MEANING
Power can intend violence and still be constrained by the people who witness it. The crowd holds John as a prophet, and their shared recognition becomes the thing Herod fears; the danger remains real.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a ruler’s will acts without constraint: even a would-be killing can be checked, for a moment, by the public’s regard.
THE ROOT
εἶχον
eichon
GROWS FROM
ἔχω
echō
To have, hold, or possess.
Where the KJV says the people “counted” John as a prophet, the Greek says they had or held him as one. Their shared regard is not just an opinion in the background: it is a social force Herod fears, though only for a moment.
ALSO GROWS
katechō: To hold fast, retain, or keep.
κατέχω
The compound makes the sense of holding explicit; here, the crowd’s settled view of John helps restrain Herod’s intended action.
epechō: To hold upon; to attend to or fix attention on.
ἐπέχω
This branch joins holding with attention: what people attend to and recognize can shape what power dares to do.
προφήτην
prophētēn
GROWS FROM
φημί
phēmi
To say or speak.
The word centers on speaking: a prophet is one who speaks forth. The crowd’s regard for John is tied to his recognized voice, and that recognition carries consequences for the ruler who wants him dead.
ALSO GROWS
prophēteuō: To prophesy; to speak as a prophet.
προφητεύω
This branch names the act behind the title: the people see John as a voice whose speech matters.
prophēteia: Prophecy; prophetic speech.
προφητεία
The shared root keeps the title connected to speech, showing what the crowd is recognizing in John.
THE PATTERN
Public regard can place a limit on a ruler’s violence when private intent would otherwise act unchecked.
And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the LORD liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not.Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.THE THREAD
But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.The later verse makes the wording in Matthew 14:5 visible: the people “hold” John as a prophet. Both passages use the Greek verb ἔχω (echō, to have or hold), linking their recognition of John to the fear it creates in rulers.
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