What Does Matthew 19:19 Mean in the King James?
Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
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 word translated “neighbour” means the one who is near, folding the person beside you into the same measure you use for yourself.
THE MEANING
This verse holds the worth of those nearest to you alongside your own. Your parents are honored as parents; the person near you is loved by the same measure that makes your own life matter. Family regard and neighbor-love meet in recognizing another person’s worth.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that another person’s well-being counts less simply because it is not your own.
THE ROOT
πλησίον
plēsion
GROWS FROM
πλησι-
plēsi-
Near; close by.
“neighbour” in this verse is plēsion. The English noun can sound like a social category, while the Greek word names the one who is near. The command brings that person within the same measure of regard as the self.
ALSO GROWS
plēsios: near, neighboring
πλησίος
This related form makes the sense of nearness in “neighbour” explicit.
plēsiázō: to approach, draw near
πλησιάζω
This verb from the same word family links nearness with coming close to someone.
τίμα
tima
GROWS FROM
τιμ-
tim-
Value, worth, price.
“Honour” in this verse is tima. The command to honor your parents carries the language of recognizing their value. Honor is more than outward deference: the word also holds the sense of treating someone as precious.
ALSO GROWS
timē: value, price, honor
τιμή
This noun shows the shared root linking honor with the value assigned to someone.
timios: precious, valuable, honored
τίμιος
This related word makes visible the worth carried within the command to honor.
THE PATTERN
Regard for another person reaches its clearest measure when their worth is held alongside your own.
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.THE THREAD
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.The Greek text of Leviticus uses πλησίον (plēsion, “the one who is near”), the same word Matthew uses for “neighbour.” That shared word ties the command to the person near you, whose well-being is held to the same measure as your own.
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