What Does Matthew 28:17 Mean in the King James?
And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
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
Seeing the risen Jesus does not make certainty contagious: worship and doubt stand together in the same gathering.
THE MEANING
The risen Jesus is encountered in a company where worship and uncertainty remain side by side. The verse keeps both responses visible without letting either erase the other.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a genuine encounter requires everyone present to respond with certainty.
THE ROOT
ἰδόντες
idontes
GROWS FROM
εἴδω
eidō
To see or perceive; its related perfect form οἶδα carries the sense “to know.”
“saw” in this verse is idontes. They see him, yet the gathering does not arrive at one shared certainty. The Greek word family links seeing with knowing, sharpening the gap between a real sight and an unsettled response.
ALSO GROWS
oida: Know, recognize
οἶδα
This related form reveals a link between seeing and knowing, even as the verse shows that seeing does not produce one uniform response.
eidos: Form, appearance
εἶδος
This branch keeps the root tied to what is perceived, grounding the passage in an encounter with someone seen.
προσεκύνησαν
prosekynēsan
GROWS FROM
προσκυνέω
proskyneō
To bow down before, prostrate oneself, or pay homage.
“worshipped” in this verse is prosekynēsan. The word carries the posture of bowing before someone, not only an inward feeling. That visible homage stands beside the hesitation of some in the same gathering.
ALSO GROWS
proskynēsis: Bowing down or homage
προσκύνησις
The related noun makes the posture within “worshipped” plain: reverence expressed by lowering oneself.
proskynētēs: One who bows down; a worshipper
προσκυνητής
This names the person taking that posture, showing worship as a response enacted by some among the group.
THE PATTERN
A living response to God can hold uncertainty beside trust, belief, or praise.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?THE THREAD
Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.The Greek verb for “saw” here belongs to the same word family as Matthew’s “saw.” In John, seeing opens into belief; in Matthew, seeing the risen Jesus gathers worship and hesitation together.
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