What Does Matthew 21:26 Mean in the King James?
But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
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 leaders’ fear reveals that the crowd’s recognition of John already governs what they dare to say.
THE MEANING
The crowd’s recognition of John as a prophet has force over the speakers before they answer. Their fear makes public judgment a boundary around what they will say. The verse shows how a voice the powerful cannot control can still shape the speech of power.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This dissolves the idea that authority makes a person immune to public pressure: the speakers’ own words show fear of the people governing their answer.
THE ROOT
προφήτην
prophētēn
GROWS FROM
φη- (phē-), from φημί (phēmi)
To say or declare; in προφήτης, to speak forth or speak for another.
The word translated “prophet” belongs to the family of saying and report: the crowd holds John as a voice whose words carry weight. The sentence sets that recognized voice beside speakers whose own words are governed by fear.
ALSO GROWS
phēmi: To say or declare.
φημί
John’s recognition as a prophet concerns the authority of his speech.
phēmē: A report, reputation, or public report.
φήμη
The crowd’s shared recognition gives John’s public standing weight in the speakers’ decision.
prophēteuō: To speak prophetically.
προφητεύω
This related verb makes clear that the identity is bound to the act of speaking.
φοβούμεθα
phoboumetha
GROWS FROM
φοβ-
phob-
To fear or dread.
Fear here is more than a private feeling: it governs the answer the speakers are weighing. The same Greek fear-word appears in Matthew’s account of another ruler afraid of the crowd because John is held as a prophet.
ALSO GROWS
phobos: Fear or dread.
φόβος
This noun names the fear that shapes the speakers’ response.
phoberos: Fearful or formidable.
φοβερός
The word family can describe what inspires fear, underscoring how strongly the crowd’s judgment presses on the speakers.
THE PATTERN
Fear of public judgment can become an authority that controls what leaders confess or say.
The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.THE THREAD
And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.Matthew repeats the same Greek word for fear and the same phrasing for holding John as a prophet. The echo reveals the crowd’s recognition of John repeatedly placing a boundary around what rulers dare to say or do.
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