What Does Matthew 15:24 Mean in the King James?
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
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 “lost” sheep are not simply out of sight: the Greek word can also mean perishing, so this mission is aimed at people in a condition of ruin.
THE MEANING
This sentence meets you with a mission defined by both people and condition: Israel’s sheep who are lost. The word translated “lost” also carries the force of perishing and ruin, giving the image stakes beyond being out of sight. The boundary is stated plainly, and so is the need it names.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the assumption that “lost” means only temporarily out of view; its Greek word also carries the sense of perishing.
THE ROOT
ἀπολωλότα
apolōlota
GROWS FROM
ἀπόλλυμι
To perish, be lost, or be destroyed; in active use, to ruin or destroy.
The form here describes sheep who have become lost and remain in that condition. The same word family reaches into perishing and ruin, letting that danger sound inside the flock image.
ALSO GROWS
apollymenos: perishing; being destroyed
ἀπολλύμενος
This form of the same verb makes the connection between being lost and being in the process of perishing explicit.
apōleia: ruin; destruction; loss
ἀπώλεια
This related noun shows how the word family can name the ruin bound up with being lost.
ἀπεστάλην
apestalēn
GROWS FROM
ἀποστέλλω
apostellō
To send out, dispatch, or commission.
The sentence describes a directed sending, with its destination built into the commission. The word family connects the act of sending with the messenger who is sent.
ALSO GROWS
apostolos: a sent one; messenger
ἀπόστολος
The messenger’s identity grows from the same language of being sent that Jesus uses here.
apostolē: a sending; commission
ἀποστολή
This noun makes the sending itself visible as a defined task with a destination.
THE PATTERN
The search turns toward those who are lost, with the aim of bringing them back.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.THE THREAD
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.Both verses use a perfect form of ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi), meaning “perish” or “be lost.” Matthew names Israel as the field of this sending; Luke names seeking and deliverance as its purpose.
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