What Does Matthew 17:25 Mean in the King James?
He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
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
Jesus speaks before Simon can ask, then makes a tax question expose the difference between belonging as a child and standing as a stranger.
THE MEANING
The question reaches you now: do you stand as an outsider who owes the ruler, or as a child who belongs to the household? The comparison makes kinship the decisive category, and the next line draws its implication: “Then are the children free.”
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that being asked for tribute means you stand in the same relation to the ruler as a stranger.
THE ROOT
προέφθασεν
proephthasen
GROWS FROM
φθάνω (phthanō), with προ- (pro-)
To arrive, reach, or attain; with προ- (“before”), to arrive beforehand or anticipate.
“prevented” in this verse is proephthasen. The verb shows Jesus arriving ahead of Simon’s unspoken question. Its root can also describe reaching or attaining, so the scene presents understanding as something that comes before the words are spoken.
ALSO GROWS
ephthasen: Reached, attained
ἔφθασεν
In Romans 9:31 the same verb describes Israel not attaining righteousness; here its prefixed form describes Jesus reaching Simon before his question.
prophthanō: Come before, anticipate
προφθάνω
This form names the action in the verse: Jesus speaks first and anticipates what Simon has not yet said.
υἱῶν
huiōn
GROWS FROM
υἱός
huios
Son; a child in relation to a father or household.
“children” in this verse is huiōn. The question names the king’s sons, placing them inside the household rather than among those from whom the king collects as outsiders. Tax becomes a question about relation: the child belongs to the house whose ruler charges strangers.
ALSO GROWS
huios: Son
υἱός
This is the singular form behind “children,” keeping the family relation visible beneath the English wording.
huiothesia: Adoption, placement as a son
υἱοθεσία
This related word for being placed in a son’s standing shows how sonship describes belonging and status within a household.
ἀλλοτρίων
allotriōn
GROWS FROM
ἀλλότριος
allotrios
Belonging to another; foreign or outside one’s own household.
“strangers” in this verse is allotriōn. The word describes someone who belongs elsewhere, not merely someone unfamiliar. Set against the king’s sons, it makes the question’s dividing line one of household belonging.
ALSO GROWS
allotrios: Another’s, foreign, or belonging elsewhere
ἀλλότριος
This is the word behind “strangers”; its sense of belonging elsewhere sharpens the contrast with the king’s children.
allotriepiskopos: One who meddles in another’s affairs
ἀλλοτριεπίσκοπος
The compound carries the idea of intruding into what belongs to someone else, echoing the outsider relation in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Belonging as a child changes how one stands in relation to the household’s ruler.
Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.THE THREAD
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.“Prevented” here and “prevent” there translate forms of φθάνω (phthanō), “to arrive or reach,” with the sense of coming before. Jesus arrives before Simon’s question; in Thessalonians, the living do not precede those who are asleep.
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