What Does Matthew 21:44 Mean in the King James?

And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Matthew 21:44 · KJV

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 same stone meets you in opposite directions, and either way the collision leaves you broken.

THE MEANING

You meet the stone in one of two ways: you fall against it and are broken, or it falls upon you and grinds you to powder. The verse holds both outcomes plainly, with the second impact leaving nothing intact.

THE ROOT

πίπτω

piptō

GROWS FROM

⁨πτ-⁩ (pt-), the Greek verbal stem in ⁨πίπτω⁩

to fall, drop, or tumble

“fall” in this verse is piptō. Matthew uses forms of the same verb first for the person falling against the stone and then for the stone falling upon the person. The direction reverses while the root stays the same; what changes is the consequence, from being broken to being ground into powder.

ALSO GROWS

ptōsis: a fall or collapse

πτῶσις

This noun can describe a collapse, carrying the movement of falling toward the failure it leaves behind.

ptōma: a fallen body; a corpse

πτῶμα

This branch shows how the word family can name what has fallen, giving the verse’s image of impact a stark bodily edge.

THE PATTERN

The same stone can serve as a cornerstone or become the point where people stumble.

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

Psalm 118:22 · KJVThe stone rejected by the builders becomes the structure’s defining stone.

And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 8:14 · KJVThe stone is named as both sanctuary and stumbling point, holding shelter and collision together.

And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

1 Peter 2:8 · KJVThe stone remains a stumbling point for those who meet it in that way.

THE THREAD

And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 8:14 · KJV

Isaiah names the same figure as both sanctuary and stumbling stone, so Matthew’s collision belongs to an image that holds shelter and danger together. Both passages leave the stone unchanged and show its force through the person who meets it.

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