What Does Matthew 26:11 Mean in the King James?
For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
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 verse sets ongoing need beside a presence that cannot be presumed to last.
THE MEANING
Need remains among the people around you: the poor are “with you,” within shared life rather than at a safe distance. At the same time, Jesus’ presence is not always available, holding continuing need beside a time-bound encounter. Both realities remain in view now: some conditions persist, while some moments pass.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that poverty is a brief condition that disappears once a single need is met.
THE ROOT
πτωχούς
ptōchous
GROWS FROM
πτώσσω
ptōssō
To crouch or cower; the word family evokes someone brought low and dependent.
“poor” in this verse is ptōchous. The Greek word reaches beyond a category of income to the image of someone brought low and dependent on help. Because these people remain “with you,” their need is described as recurring company, not a distant abstraction.
ALSO GROWS
ptōchos: A poor or destitute person; someone in need.
πτωχός
This is the word used in the verse, giving its “poor” the sense of a person brought low and dependent.
ptōcheia: Poverty or destitution.
πτωχεία
The noun names the condition that persists, rather than a need that vanishes after one response.
ptōcheuō: To become poor or live in poverty.
πτωχεύω
The verb shows the word family can describe the condition of being brought into poverty.
THE PATTERN
Poverty persists within the community, so care for people in need remains part of communal life.
For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.THE THREAD
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Matthew uses the same Greek word, πτωχοί (ptōchoi, poor ones), in “the poor in spirit.” Its sense of being brought low and dependent links material need here with inward dependence there.
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