What Does Matthew 18:29 Mean in the King James?
And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
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
He asks for patience, not release: the plea leaves the debt standing and promises full repayment.
THE MEANING
A plea for patience can leave the debt fully standing: the speaker asks for time and promises to pay everything. The one asking is a fellow servant, so the request rises within a shared condition of service and debt.
THE ROOT
Μακροθύμησον
makrothymēson
GROWS FROM
μακροθυμ-
makrothym-
Long-tempered: μακρός (makros) means “long,” and θυμός (thymos) means “anger” or “heat”, slow to heat.
The word asks someone to hold back anger over time, not merely to wait. English “patience” can hide the heat that is being kept in check, while the promise to pay keeps the debt itself in place.
ALSO GROWS
makrothymia: patience, long-suffering
μακροθυμία
This noun names the sustained restraint that the servant asks the other to show.
makrothymos: long-tempered, patient
μακρόθυμος
This adjective describes the quality of being slow to heat that the request calls upon.
ἀποδώσω
apodōsō
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
Give; with ἀπό (apo, “back”), the compound ἀποδίδωμι means to give back, render, or repay.
“pay” in this verse is apodōsō. The promised payment is phrased as giving back what is owed. The speaker does not ask for the debt to disappear; he asks for time to return all of it.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: give
δίδωμι
This is the verb at the center of the repayment word: the promise is to give what is owed.
apodosis: repayment, recompense
ἀπόδοσις
This related noun names the return that the speaker promises will settle the debt.
σύνδουλος
syndoulos
GROWS FROM
δουλ-
doul-
Servant; σύν (syn) means “with,” so σύνδουλος means a servant alongside another servant.
“fellowservant” in this verse is syndoulos. The Greek compounds “with” and “servant”: the person pleading shares the other’s servant condition. The request for patience is made between fellow servants within the same world of obligation.
ALSO GROWS
doulos: servant
δοῦλος
This is the shared status named in the compound fellowservant.
douleuō: serve, be a servant
δουλεύω
The related verb keeps the focus on a condition of service shared by both people.
THE PATTERN
Long patience delays heat so another response or outcome can still arrive.
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.THE THREAD
The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.This earlier plea uses the same Greek verb, Μακροθύμησον (makrothymēson), and the same promise to pay everything. The repeated words make the request echo a plea that was met with release in the verse that follows.
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