What Does Matthew 22:31 Mean in the King James?
But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
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
Resurrection names the dead in relation to standing up.
THE MEANING
You are addressed with a question about resurrection: the dead are the ones who stand again. The verse says God’s words are spoken “unto you,” placing the reader inside the address.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that death removes a person from God’s address: resurrection is what God’s speech is speaking to you about.
THE ROOT
ἀνάστασις
anastasis
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
To stand or set upright.
English can make resurrection sound like an abstract doctrine; ἀνάστασις (anastasis, standing up) carries the action of standing inside the noun. The verse names the dead in relation to rising.
ALSO GROWS
anistēmi: To rise or stand up.
ἀνίστημι
This verb makes the movement inside “resurrection” visible: what is down stands up.
anastasis: A rising, resurrection.
ἀνάστασις
The verse’s central word holds the act of standing within its name.
ῥηθέν
rhēthen
GROWS FROM
ῥέω
rheō
To speak or pour forth words.
This word-family keeps speech tied to utterance rather than a static record. Here, what is spoken is explicitly “unto you,” giving the reading the shape of a direct address.
ALSO GROWS
rhēma: A spoken word or utterance.
ῥῆμα
It keeps the verse’s “spoken” connected to words being voiced.
rhēsis: Speech or utterance.
ῥῆσις
It echoes the verse’s emphasis on God’s words being spoken to the reader.
THE PATTERN
God’s word addresses what is dead with a call into life.
Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.THE THREAD
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.The next verse supplies the words Matthew 22:31 says God has spoken: “I am the God...” Its present-tense “I am” grounds resurrection in God’s continuing relation to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
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