What Does Matthew 19:20 Mean in the King James?
The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
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 “yet” turns a record of kept commands into a question about what still falls short.
THE MEANING
The verse names a present tension: a person can count what they have kept and still ask what remains lacking. The final “yet” leaves the account open; outward compliance has not settled the question of deficiency.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
“If I have kept every command, then nothing can still be missing in me.”
THE ROOT
ὑστερῶ
hysterō
GROWS FROM
ὑστερ- (hyster-), from ὕστερος (hysteros)
Behind, later; to come short or be deficient.
“lack” in this verse is hysterō. The verb carries the image of falling behind or coming up short, not only of having an empty space. His question leaves open whether a complete record of kept commands can make a person whole.
ALSO GROWS
hystereō: To fall short or lack what is needed.
ὑστερέω
Romans 3:23 uses this same verb for all who “come short,” extending the question beyond one person’s inventory.
hysterēma: A shortfall or what is lacking.
ὑστέρημα
This noun from the same word family makes the question concrete: what remains deficient even when much has been kept?
ἐφυλαξάμην
ephylaxamēn
GROWS FROM
φυλάσσω
phylassō
To guard, keep watch over, or preserve.
“Kept” carries the sense of guarding, not merely checking a box. The same root can describe watchfulness and custody, so his claim pictures a life carefully held within the commands, while his question shows that guarding them has not resolved what is lacking.
ALSO GROWS
phylakē: A watch or guarded custody.
φυλακή
The related word keeps the sense of being held or watched, giving “kept” a stronger image than a completed checklist.
phylax: One who guards or keeps watch.
φύλαξ
The person who guards illuminates the verb’s active force: the commands are presented as things he has watched over and observed.
THE PATTERN
A claim of complete conduct can still meet a question about what remains short.
For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.THE THREAD
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;Matthew’s ὑστερῶ asks what is deficient in one life; Romans uses the same root for humanity’s shared shortfall from God’s weight. The personal inventory opens onto a condition no one escapes by keeping a list.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us