What Does Matthew 20:33 Mean in the King James?
They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.
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
Here, sight is not a feat the eyes perform: they are the ones asking to be opened.
THE MEANING
The verse gives you a sentence for the moment when seeing is beyond your reach: “that our eyes may be opened.” The request addresses the Lord and leaves the opening as something received. Wanting to see and seeing are not collapsed into one.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It loosens the belief that clarity has to be manufactured by your own effort: here, the eyes are opened; they do not open themselves.
THE ROOT
ἀνοιγῶσιν
anoigōsin
GROWS FROM
ἀνοιγ- (the stem of ἀνοίγω)
To open; to make an opening or access.
“opened” in this verse is anoigōsin. This is a passive form of ἀνοίγω (anoigō, open): the eyes are grammatically the ones receiving the opening. In this Greek word family, opening can describe eyes, hearts, and understanding, extending the image beyond eyesight to access for perception.
ALSO GROWS
anoigēsetai: A future passive form of ἀνοίγω, meaning “will be opened.”
ἀνοιγήσεται
In Matthew 7:7, “it shall be opened unto you” uses this form, again presenting opening as something received.
dianoigō: A compound verb meaning “open through” or “open fully.”
διανοίγω
In Luke 24:31, a form of this verb describes eyes being opened, carrying the same opening image into perception.
THE PATTERN
What is closed receives an opening from beyond itself; the text places the opening with the LORD rather than with the closed faculty.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.THE THREAD
And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.Luke uses διηνοίχθησαν (diēnoichthēsan, “were opened”), a form of διανοίγω (dianoigō, “open through”), built on the same opening stem as Matthew’s ἀνοίγω (anoigō, “open”). The same opening reaches the eyes again, making perception something received.
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