What Does Matthew 26:10 Mean in the King James?

When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.

Matthew 26:10 · KJV

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

Jesus overturns the onlookers’ label in one reply: what they call trouble, he recognizes as good work.

THE MEANING

An offering that others call a disturbance can still be good work in the eyes of the one who receives it. Jesus sees the woman’s act as meaningful in relation to him, not as trouble imposed on the room. The verse holds both readings together and lets the act’s purpose come into view.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that an act becomes wasteful or wrong merely because it inconveniences the people watching.

THE ROOT

ἔργον

érgon

GROWS FROM

ἐργ

⁨ἐργ⁩ (erg): work, deed, a task carried into action

Greek repeats one seed in both the noun ⁨ἔργον⁩ (érgon, work) and the verb ⁨ἠργάσατο⁩ (ērgásato, she worked): what she does and what her act is called are joined. The phrase ⁨καλὸν ἔργον⁩ (kalòn érgon, good or beautiful work) presents value as something carried by her concrete action.

ALSO GROWS

ergázomai: to work, do, accomplish

ἐργάζομαι

The verb names the action that brings a work about; in this verse, ⁨ἠργάσατο⁩ (ērgásato, she worked) uses this same family.

ergátēs: worker, laborer

ἐργάτης

This branch names the one who works, keeping the root tied to an agent and an enacted deed rather than an abstract idea.

THE PATTERN

The worth of an act is not settled by appearances or by the burden others assign it; its meaning can be revealed by what it serves.

But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 · KJVThe visible impression does not settle a person’s worth; what is seen at the heart changes the judgment.

Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:

1 Corinthians 12:22 · KJVWhat appears weak or secondary can carry real necessity that an observer misses.

And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.

Mark 14:6 · KJVJesus names the same act the onlookers call trouble as good work.

THE THREAD

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10 · KJV

The Greek root ⁨ἐργ⁩ (erg) appears in both ⁨ἔργον⁩, the good work Jesus names here, and the “good works” of Ephesians 2:10. There, good work is something prepared to be walked in; here, Jesus recognizes a particular deed as good.

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