What Does Matthew 5:15 Mean in the King James?
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
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 lamp’s light reaches the whole house when it is placed where everyone can see it.
THE MEANING
The verse describes light as something shared: once the lamp is lit, it is set where it can reach everyone in the house. What shines becomes visible within the space people inhabit together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that illumination is meant to stay hidden or belong to only one person.
THE ROOT
λύχνον
lychnon
GROWS FROM
λυχν-
lychn-
Lamp; a portable light.
“candle / candlestick” in this verse is lychnon. The Greek words for “candle” and “candlestick” belong to the same word family: λύχνος is a lamp, and λυχνία is its lampstand. The English wording can obscure that link; the verse describes a lamp set on a stand so its light reaches everyone in the house.
ALSO GROWS
lychnos: Lamp.
λύχνος
This is the lamp that is lit and placed where its light can be seen.
lychnia: Lampstand.
λυχνία
It shares the lamp’s word family and names the place that lets its light reach the household.
οἰκίᾳ
oikia
GROWS FROM
οἰκ-
oik-
House, dwelling, household.
The word for house belongs to a family of words about dwelling and inhabited space. Here, the light reaches all who share that space; its reach is communal, not confined to the one who lit the lamp.
ALSO GROWS
oikos: House or household.
οἶκος
It shows the close link between a dwelling and the people who belong within it.
oikoumenē: The inhabited world.
οἰκουμένη
It extends the same dwelling word family toward the wider space where people live.
THE PATTERN
Light serves its purpose by becoming visible where it can guide or reach others.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.THE THREAD
No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.Luke repeats the lamp-and-lampstand image with the same Greek word family for lamp and lampstand. The placement makes the light visible to those who enter, opening the same shared-space image in Matthew.
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