What Does Matthew 27:36 Mean in the King James?
And sitting down they watched him there;
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 verb translated “watched” means to keep or guard, so this is custody as much as looking.
THE MEANING
You are shown what a watching gaze can do: it keeps a person under sustained attention. They sit and continue watching him there; the sentence gives their posture and persistence, but leaves their motive unstated.
THE ROOT
ἐτήρουν
etēroun
GROWS FROM
τηρ- (τηρέω, tēreō)
To keep, guard, or observe over time.
The verb carries the sense of keeping someone under watch, not merely glancing at him. English “watched” can sound like looking; the Greek also holds the force of custody.
ALSO GROWS
tērēsis: Keeping, custody, or observance
τήρησις
This noun makes the guarded, ongoing quality of the watching explicit.
tērētēs: Keeper or guardian
τηρητής
This branch names the person who does the keeping, bringing the watchers’ role into focus.
THE PATTERN
Keeping is sustained attention that holds someone in another’s charge.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.THE THREAD
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.The same Greek verb rendered “watched” here is rendered “kept” in Jesus’ words. One root spans the watch held over him and his keeping of those entrusted to him.
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