What Does Matthew 23:8 Mean in the King James?
But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
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
Greek ἀδελφοί (adelphoi, “brethren”) carries the same-womb image of shared origin, grounding the community in kinship rather than titles.
THE MEANING
The verse places you in a community with one teacher and a shared bond of kinship. No title makes one person a higher kind of sibling than another.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a religious title makes someone spiritually superior to the rest.
THE ROOT
ἀδελφοί
adelphoi
GROWS FROM
δέλφ
δέλφ (delph) means “womb”; the ἀδελφ- family is traditionally connected with siblings born from the same womb.
The word for “brethren” carries an image of shared origin beneath the English sense of a group of fellow believers. The verse places everyone inside that sibling bond, with one teacher named for all.
ALSO GROWS
delphys: womb
δελφύς
This Greek word is traditionally connected with the origin of ἀδελφός, giving “brethren” a shared-origin depth.
adelphotēs: brotherhood, sibling community
ἀδελφότης
The same consonant family names a whole community by its kinship, not by a ladder of titles.
διδάσκαλος
didaskalos
GROWS FROM
διδασκ
διδασκ (didask-) is the Greek word family for teaching and instruction.
The word rendered “Master” names a teacher, from the same family as the verb “to teach.” The verse centers one teacher while holding the rest together as siblings.
ALSO GROWS
didaskō: to teach, instruct
διδάσκω
This verb shares the root with the teacher named in the verse, showing the role through its action.
didaskalia: teaching, instruction
διδασκαλία
This noun carries the same root into the content of teaching, linking the teacher to what is taught.
THE PATTERN
Shared kinship holds the community together, so authority does not become a ladder of status.
Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.THE THREAD
Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.Peter’s “brotherhood,” ἀδελφότης (adelphotēs), belongs to the same Greek word family as ἀδελφοί (adelphoi, “brethren”) here. The shared root names the community by its sibling bond, even as Matthew’s verse reserves the teacher’s place for one.
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