What Does Matthew 4:17 Mean in the King James?
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
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 call to turn rests on the announcement that heaven’s governance has already drawn near.
THE MEANING
Jesus’ announcement joins turning to a reality already pressing close: the governance of the heavens is at hand. The turn is a response to that nearness, not a way to create it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that turning must earn God’s nearness: the verse grounds the turn in the nearness already announced.
THE ROOT
μετανοεῖτε
metanoeite
GROWS FROM
νοέω
noeō
Perceive, think, or understand.
“Repent” in this verse is metanoeite. The verb makes turning cognitive and directional at once: a changed way of seeing becomes a changed course. Here that turn responds to heaven’s governance already drawing near.
ALSO GROWS
metanoia: Turning; a change of mind.
μετάνοια
This noun from the same word family names the turn as a change in orientation.
noēsis: Perception or understanding.
νόησις
It shows the perceptive dimension beneath the turn: how a person sees shapes the direction they take.
βασιλεία
basileia
GROWS FROM
βασιλεύω
basileuō
To reign or exercise kingship.
“kingdom” in this verse is basileia. The word can name sovereignty and active rule. The governance of heaven is therefore an active ordering that draws near, not only a place to reach.
ALSO GROWS
basileus: King.
βασιλεύς
The related word for king reveals the authority contained in the announcement.
basileuō: To reign.
βασιλεύω
This verb brings the idea of kingdom into action as rule or governance.
ἤγγικεν
ēngiken
GROWS FROM
ἐγγίζω
eggizō
To draw near or approach.
“at hand” in this verse is ēngiken. The verb’s perfect form presents the drawing-near as accomplished with a present result: it has come close and remains close. The announcement carries immediacy, not only future possibility.
ALSO GROWS
eggizō: To draw near.
ἐγγίζω
This is the verb from which the verse’s announcement of nearness comes.
eggys: Near or close at hand.
ἐγγύς
The related word for nearness makes the present closeness in the announcement visible.
THE PATTERN
A turn of direction is called forth by a divine nearness already within reach.
But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:THE THREAD
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.Mark repeats the same call to turn and the same verb meaning “has drawn near,” linking the turn to a nearness already underway. Its opening, “The time is fulfilled,” gives that nearness a moment of arrival.
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