What Does Matthew 22:2 Mean in the King James?
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
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
Heaven’s governance appears here as a wedding the king makes for his son.
THE MEANING
Heaven’s governance is pictured as a king preparing a wedding for his son. The son’s wedding becomes the center of the king’s action, showing rule as an act that brings celebration into being.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This loosens the idea that heaven’s rule is only distant command: here, the king’s action takes the form of making a wedding celebration for his son.
THE ROOT
βασιλεία
basileia
GROWS FROM
βασιλ-
basil-
King; royal rule or kingship.
The word translated “kingdom” can name kingship or reign, not only a territory. The verse gives that governance a face and an action: a king making a wedding for his son.
ALSO GROWS
basileus: King.
βασιλεύς
The king in the parable gives heaven’s governance a personal form.
basileuō: To reign or rule as king.
βασιλεύω
This branch makes the active sense of kingship audible within “kingdom.”
basilikos: Royal; belonging to a king.
βασιλικός
It shows how the same word family describes what carries the king’s character or authority.
γάμους
gamous
GROWS FROM
γαμ-
gam-
Marriage; wedding.
The Greek word can refer to a wedding celebration as well as the marriage itself. The king’s action therefore opens onto a feast-making image: the son’s wedding is an event of celebration, not just a change in status.
ALSO GROWS
gamos: Marriage; wedding feast.
γάμος
This form names the wedding celebration the king makes for his son.
gameō: To marry.
γαμέω
The verb carries the same marriage root into the act of joining in marriage.
gamizō: To give in marriage.
γαμίζω
This branch appears in the wedding language of the surrounding parable and keeps the same root in view.
THE PATTERN
God’s restoring work is pictured as banquet and wedding celebration, turning grief and lack toward shared joy.
And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.THE THREAD
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.Matthew’s γάμους (gamous, wedding) and Revelation’s γάμος (gamos, marriage) share the same Greek word family. The wedding prepared for the king’s son reappears as the Lamb’s marriage celebration, carrying the image forward.
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