What Does Matthew 27:15 Mean in the King James?
Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would.
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
Freedom here is a public choice: the governor releases the prisoner the crowd wants without declaring him innocent.
THE MEANING
The governor holds the power to release one prisoner, while the crowd determines whom it wants freed. Release changes the person’s custody; this verse does not say that it proves innocence or justice.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being released does not necessarily mean being judged innocent, just as being bound does not by itself tell you who deserves freedom.
THE ROOT
ἀπολύειν
apolyein
GROWS FROM
λύω
lyō
to loosen or unbind
The Greek verb for release is built on λύω (lyō), “to loosen”: release is pictured as unbinding, not as a verdict of innocence. Here, that loosening is a power the governor exercises according to the crowd’s desire.
ALSO GROWS
lyō: to loosen, unbind, or release
λύω
This is the root beneath the verse’s word for releasing the prisoner.
lytron: ransom, the price paid to release someone
λύτρον
This branch carries the same release-root into the idea of a price attached to freedom.
δέσμιον
desmion
GROWS FROM
δέω
deō
to bind or tie
The Greek calls the prisoner a “bound one” (δέσμιος, desmios), while the release is a loosening (λύω, lyō). The sentence holds binding and unbinding in direct counterpoint, yet leaves the crowd’s choice unjudged.
ALSO GROWS
deō: to bind or tie
δέω
This verb is the root of the word describing the person held in custody.
desmos: a bond or chain
δεσμός
The prisoner’s word belongs to the same family as the bonds that hold someone.
desmōtērion: a prison or place of confinement
δεσμωτήριον
The same binding-family names the place where a bound person is kept.
THE PATTERN
Whoever controls the release of the bound shapes when freedom is granted.
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.THE THREAD
He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.Acts uses λύω (lyō), “loosen,” the same root carried inside Matthew’s ἀπολύω (apolýō), “release.” There, the prospect of a prisoner’s release is entangled with hoped-for money, making visible how an unbinding can be controlled or bargained over.
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