What Does Matthew 28:16 Mean in the King James?
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
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 mountain is not a destination the disciples invent: the Greek says Jesus has already arranged the meeting there.
THE MEANING
The eleven learners move toward the meeting place Jesus has already set. Direction and response belong together: the encounter has an appointed place, and those called to it are on their way.
THE ROOT
ἐτάξατο
etaxato
GROWS FROM
ταγ-
To arrange, assign, or set in order.
The Greek word ἐτάξατο (etaxato, appointed) belongs to the τάσσω family, rooted in ταγ- (tag-, arrange or assign). The mountain is more than a location: it is the place of a meeting already set in order.
ALSO GROWS
tássō: Arrange, assign, appoint.
τάσσω
This is the verb family behind ἐτάξατο; the meeting place is assigned, not accidental.
táxis: Arrangement, order.
τάξις
This related form makes the root’s sense of setting things in order visible in the appointment.
tágma: Something arranged; a troop or ordered body.
τάγμα
It carries the same ταγ- family into a group gathered in an ordered formation.
μαθηταί
mathētai
GROWS FROM
μαθ-
To learn.
The Greek μαθηταί (mathētai, learners or disciples) are named by their relation to learning. The scene is not merely a group arriving at a mountain; it is learners moving toward an encounter that continues to teach.
ALSO GROWS
manthanō: Learn.
μανθάνω
This verb shares the μαθ- family and reveals the learner at the center of the word “disciple.”
mathēteuō: Make a disciple; be a disciple.
μαθητεύω
This related verb shows the learner’s identity as a continuing formation, not just a title.
גָּלִיל
Galil
GROWS FROM
גלל
To roll or circle.
“Galilee” in this verse is Galil. The Hebrew name Galil (גָּלִיל, district or region) is associated with the גלל (galal, roll or circle) word-family. The name holds a sense of circuit or district inside what can sound in English like only a place on a map.
ALSO GROWS
galal: Roll, roll away.
גָּלַל
This is the root verb behind the circle or circuit sense associated with Galil.
megillah: Scroll, rolled document.
מְגִלָּה
It shares the גלל consonants and preserves the image of something rolled into a circuit.
THE PATTERN
An encounter unfolds through a set direction: a place is named, and someone moves toward it.
And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.THE THREAD
And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.The Greek word translated “ordained” here, τεταγμένοι (tetagmenoi), belongs to the same τάσσω family as ἐτάξατο (etaxato, appointed) in Matthew. The shared root of arranging or assigning lets the mountain appointment and the ordering in Acts echo each other.
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