What Does Matthew 19:21 Mean in the King James?
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
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 names wholeness as a life that releases its possessions toward the poor and follows him.
THE MEANING
Wholeness takes shape as what you hold passes toward the poor and your life follows Jesus. The promised treasure lies beyond what you can own and keep.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that keeping all you own can coexist with an undivided following of Jesus.
THE ROOT
τέλειος
teleios
GROWS FROM
τέλος
telos
End, aim, goal, completion.
The word translated “perfect” carries the sense of being complete, brought to its goal. Jesus gives that completeness a concrete shape here: possessions are released, the poor receive, and the person follows him.
ALSO GROWS
teleioō: To bring to completion or fulfillment.
τελειόω
Its shared root shows that completeness is something brought to its intended end.
teleiotēs: Completeness, maturity.
τελειότης
This branch keeps “perfect” connected to maturity and wholeness, not merely flawlessness.
δός
dos
GROWS FROM
δο-/δω- (do-/dō-)
Give, grant.
The command to give turns possession into provision for someone else. The related words keep the act and its result together: what leaves one person’s hands becomes a gift received by another.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: To give or grant.
δίδωμι
This is the verb behind the command, naming the transfer Jesus asks for.
dosis: A giving, gift, or bestowal.
δόσις
The shared root holds giving together with what is given.
dōron: A gift.
δῶρον
The poor receive what is released as a gift, making generosity the visible form of the transfer.
THE PATTERN
What is released from private keeping becomes provision for others and treasure beyond possession.
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.THE THREAD
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.The same Greek word, τέλειος (teleios), appears in both verses. Matthew 5:48 names completeness in likeness to the Father; here, Jesus gives that completeness a tangible form in release and following.
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