What Does Matthew 24:47 Mean in the King James?
Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
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 servant is set over what belongs to another: this authority is entrusted placement, not ownership.
THE MEANING
Steady care opens into a wider field of responsibility. The goods remain the master’s, even as they are placed under the servant’s oversight.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that authority requires ownership: the servant receives oversight of everything while it remains the master’s.
THE ROOT
καταστήσει
katastēsei
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
To stand, set, or place.
“make him ruler” in this verse is katastēsei. The verb translated “make ruler” comes from καθίστημι (kathistēmi), to appoint or set someone in place. Its root keeps the image of standing: the servant’s authority is a position entrusted to him, not an ownership transfer.
ALSO GROWS
kathistēmi: Appoint, set in place.
καθίστημι
This is the verb behind the promise: the servant is appointed over the master’s goods.
anistēmi: Rise, stand up.
ἀνίστημι
This related compound preserves the root’s image of standing, linking authority with a place one is given to occupy.
ὑπάρχουσιν
hyparchousin
GROWS FROM
ὑπάρχω
hyparchō
To exist or be at hand.
The word for the master’s goods carries the sense of things that are at hand or available. What the servant oversees is everything placed within reach, yet the verse still calls them the master’s.
ALSO GROWS
hyparchonta: Things at hand; possessions or resources.
ὑπάρχοντα
This related form makes the goods concrete as resources available for care.
hyparxis: Existence; possessions or resources.
ὕπαρξις
The same word family connects what exists with what is held, reinforcing that the servant receives oversight of the master’s resources.
THE PATTERN
Entrusted care can expand into authority over what still belongs to another.
And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.THE THREAD
Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.Luke uses the same appoint-and-set verb as Matthew: the promise is a placement into wider responsibility. In both verses, the master’s goods define the reach of the servant’s authority without becoming the servant’s property.
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