What Does Matthew 26:21 Mean in the King James?
And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
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 Greek word for betrayal also means to hand someone over, so the wound is an intimate transfer of a person into another’s power.
THE MEANING
Shared bread and exposure sit side by side: one of the people eating with Jesus is about to hand him over. The verse speaks now to how closeness can make a person vulnerable to being surrendered into another’s power.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Closeness guarantees safety, and only a stranger can hand me over.
THE ROOT
παραδίδωμι
paradidōmi
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
to give
English “betray” emphasizes the breach of loyalty; παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi, “hand over”) also pictures the act as a transfer into another’s hands. Because the verb grows from δίδωμι (didōmi, “give”), the verse’s sting lies in what is given away: someone at the table turns shared closeness into exposure.
ALSO GROWS
metadidōmi: to share, impart
μεταδίδωμι
This branch names giving as sharing; beside it, the verse’s verb turns the setting of shared bread into a handover.
apodidōmi: to give back, render, repay
ἀποδίδωμι
This branch shows the same root extending into an act of giving something over or back, illuminating the transfer carried by “betray.”
THE PATTERN
Shared bread can hold both closeness and the possibility of a handover.
Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.THE THREAD
Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.The Greek verb παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi, “hand over”) appears in Romans as παρεδόθη (paredothē, “was handed over”). Matthew renders the verb as “betray” and Romans as “delivered,” making the shared act of handing over visible across both verses while each keeps its own context.
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