What Does Matthew 5:21 Mean in the King James?

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Matthew 5:21 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The verb behind “kill” carries the specific shade of murder, and the verse places that act under judgment.

THE MEANING

You hear a clear boundary around taking another person’s life: the act named here is murder, and it places the one who does it under judgment. The verse speaks now of human life as something no act of violence can make unaccountable.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This undoes the belief that taking a life is a private act without consequence: the verse places it under judgment.

THE ROOT

φονεύσει

phoneusei

GROWS FROM

φον-

phon-

murder; the taking of a life

“shall kill” in this verse is phoneusei. The English “kill” can cover many kinds of killing; this Greek verb carries the specific shade of murder. Its related noun and agent words keep the act and the murderer in one word family, so the verse’s judgment attaches to the act itself.

ALSO GROWS

phonos: murder; a killing

φόνος

This noun names the act at the heart of the command and its judgment.

phoneus: murderer

φονεύς

This names the person who commits the act, keeping the deed and its agent within the same word family.

κρίσεως

kriseōs

GROWS FROM

κριν-

krin-

to judge, decide, distinguish

Judgment carries the sense of a decision that distinguishes and answers an act. The verse places murder within that reckoning: it is not left without a verdict.

ALSO GROWS

krinō: to judge; to decide

κρίνω

This verb shows judgment as an act of deciding, giving the verse’s warning a clear force.

kritēs: judge

κριτής

This related word names the one who judges, making the accountability in the verse concrete.

THE PATTERN

Scripture treats the taking of life as a serious breach of a real boundary, whose reach extends from the act into hatred.

Thou shalt not kill.

Exodus 20:13 · KJVThe command gives a direct boundary against taking life.

For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Romans 13:9 · KJVThe prohibition against killing is placed among commands that protect a neighbor and are gathered into love.

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

1 John 3:15 · KJVThe word “murderer” reaches beyond the physical act to name hatred as part of the same breach.

THE THREAD

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

1 John 3:15 · KJV

The verb translated “shall kill” and the noun “murderer” share the Greek root ⁨φον-⁩ (phon-), meaning murder. Here that same word family reaches into hatred, revealing that the boundary around life concerns more than the visible act.

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