What Does Matthew 28:15 Mean in the King James?
So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
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
A purchased script becomes common knowledge by being repeated, but circulation does not make it true.
THE MEANING
A claim can be taught into someone’s mouth, given material incentive, and repeated until it passes as common knowledge. Its reach is real, while its truth remains unproven.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A story repeated widely must be true; this verse shows how a report can spread because people were paid and instructed to repeat it.
THE ROOT
διεφημίσθη
diephēmisthē
GROWS FROM
φημ-
To say or report.
“commonly reported” in this verse is diephēmisthē. The verb describes a report being spread abroad. Its root keeps the act of saying inside the public report: the account becomes widespread through repetition, not through proof.
ALSO GROWS
phēmi: I say; I assert.
φημί
The public report is made from assertions spoken and passed along.
phēmē: A report, reputation, or rumor.
φήμη
This branch shows how an account can acquire a public reputation simply by circulating.
ἐδιδάχθησαν
edidachthēsan
GROWS FROM
διδασκ-
To teach or instruct.
“were taught” in this verse is edidachthēsan. The soldiers repeat what has first been put into their mouths. The verse links instruction to transmission: a taught script becomes a report once its hearers carry it onward.
ALSO GROWS
didaskō: To teach or instruct.
διδάσκω
The soldiers’ account begins with deliberate instruction.
didaskalos: A teacher.
διδάσκαλος
The word family makes the source of the account visible: someone is teaching the speakers what to say.
THE PATTERN
A planted account gains public reach when people repeat it as testimony.
For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.THE THREAD
Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.The account begins as an explicit script: the elders give the soldiers money and tell them what to say. The Greek λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) in verse 13 belongs to the same word family as λόγος (logos, “word” or “account”) in verse 15; the instructed sentence has become the report people pass around.
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