What Does Matthew 16:15 Mean in the King James?
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
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
What you say about Jesus reveals what you recognize in him as much as it names him.
THE MEANING
The question reaches you now: it asks what you recognize in Jesus beyond the words repeated around you. Your answer discloses the nature you perceive, because the question is not only what people say, but whom you say him to be.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that repeating familiar titles is the same as seeing who Jesus is.
THE ROOT
εἶναι
einai
GROWS FROM
εἰμί
eimi
To be; to exist.
English “am” can feel like a grammatical hinge, but the Greek keeps “to be” as the actual verb in the question: “whom do you say me to be?” The related παρών (parōn, “present; being here”) carries being toward presence, so the question reaches beneath titles toward who is present.
ALSO GROWS
ōn: Being; one who is.
ὤν
This participle keeps being itself visible beneath the English auxiliary “am.”
parōn: Present; being here.
παρών
This related formation carries the sense of presence into the same family: identity can be heard as who is present, not only as a title.
λέγετε
legete
GROWS FROM
λεγ-
leg-
To say, tell, or recount.
The question contrasts the crowd’s account with what the disciples themselves say. Its word-family includes λόγος (logos, “word”), so their answer is more than a bare label: speech discloses what they recognize.
ALSO GROWS
logos: Word; account.
λόγος
The question draws out a word about Jesus’ identity, letting the answer reveal what the speaker recognizes.
dialogos: Conversation; dialogue.
διάλογος
This compound names speech exchanged between people, fitting the turn from what others say to what the disciples say themselves.
THE PATTERN
Recognition of identity moves beyond received labels to a direct naming of who is present.
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?THE THREAD
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.Matthew’s Greek uses εἶναι (einai, “to be”) in the question “whom do you say me to be?”; John 8:58 uses the same verb in “I am.” That shared verb draws the question beneath titles toward the being named.
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