What Does Matthew 24:49 Mean in the King James?
And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
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 authority entrusted to serve is exposed by whom it wounds and whose excess it joins.
THE MEANING
The verse lays a living pattern bare: the hand of a caretaker turns against the people beside him, while his table joins people in drunkenness. Service is betrayed both by the harm he does and by the company he keeps.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being entrusted with others does not make a person safe for them; service can become a cover for violence and indulgence.
THE ROOT
τύπτειν
typtein
GROWS FROM
τυπ-
typ-
To strike, to make an impact.
“smite” in this verse is typtein. The Greek word is τύπτειν (typtein), from the word family of striking and blows. A related word, τύπος (typos), can mean an impression or mark, and also a pattern: the blow leaves its mark, while this servant’s behavior becomes a pattern of betrayal.
ALSO GROWS
typtō: To strike or beat.
τύπτω
This is the verb’s dictionary form and keeps the action concrete: the servant begins beating people who share his service.
typos: An impression, mark, pattern, or example.
τύπος
The related word can name both what is impressed and a pattern; the violence here marks the relationship and reveals the servant’s conduct.
συνδούλους
syndoulous
GROWS FROM
δουλ-
doul-
Servant or slave, one bound to another’s service.
“fellowservants” in this verse is syndoulous. The word is σύνδουλος (syndoulos), built from σύν (syn, with or together) and δοῦλος (doulos, servant or slave). The beating is directed at people who share the same service, so the word itself holds the bond in view even as the servant violates it.
ALSO GROWS
doulos: A servant or slave.
δοῦλος
The shared base names the role these people have in common.
douleuō: To serve or be enslaved.
δουλεύω
The noun’s family also gives the verb for serving, keeping their shared service visible beneath the conflict.
μεθυόντων
methyontōn
GROWS FROM
μεθυ-
methu-
To be drunk or intoxicated.
“drunken” in this verse is methyontōn. The Greek phrase places the servant with people who are drunk; it does not directly say that he himself is drunk. That distinction sharpens the portrait: he turns against his fellow servants and chooses the company of the intoxicated.
ALSO GROWS
methyō: To be drunk or intoxicated.
μεθύω
This is the verb behind the description of the people he joins.
methē: Drunkenness or intoxication.
μέθη
The related noun names the state that defines the company around his table.
THE PATTERN
When caretaking authority turns to force and appetite, the people entrusted to it become objects rather than people being served.
The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;THE THREAD
But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.Matthew 18:28 uses the same Greek word, σύνδουλος (syndoulos, fellow-servant), as this verse’s “fellowservants.” There, too, one servant seizes another by the throat, making the violence between people who share the same service unmistakable.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us