What Does Matthew 5:26 Mean in the King James?
Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
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 exit stays closed until the debt is rendered in full, down to the smallest coin.
THE MEANING
The reader meets a hard boundary: confinement ends only when the entire debt is paid, to the last coin. No part of the obligation vanishes because it is small or delayed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a small remaining debt no longer matters is undone: even the final coin still governs release.
THE ROOT
ἀποδῷς
apodōs
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι (didōmi), with ἀπό (apo-)
δίδωμι means to give or hand over; the compound ἀποδίδωμι means to render or repay.
“paid” in this verse is apodōs. English “pay” sounds like a transaction, but the Greek builds it from giving back: what leaves the debtor’s hand answers what is owed. The sentence carries that exchange to its final unit, tying release to a completed rendering.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: Give, grant, or hand over.
δίδωμι
The payment is an act of handing over what is due.
apodidōmi: Render, repay, or pay what is owed.
ἀποδίδωμι
The same giving takes the form of returning an obligation to its claimant.
ἐξέλθῃς
exelthēs
GROWS FROM
ἔρχομαι (erchomai), with ἐξ- (ex-, out)
ἔρχομαι means to come or go; with ἐξ-, the compound means to go out.
The word translated “come out” is a movement verb with “out” attached. That outward movement remains unavailable until the debt is fully rendered.
ALSO GROWS
erchomai: Come or go.
ἔρχομαι
This is the movement at the center of the word for leaving.
eiserchomai: Enter or go in.
εἰσέρχομαι
The same movement root can point inward; here the direction is outward, but the way out is conditioned on payment.
THE PATTERN
An account keeps its claim until it is paid in full or released.
And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’s release.And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.THE THREAD
And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.Both verses use the same Greek verb for paying what is owed, and both bind release from confinement to the account’s completion. Matthew 18 makes the link unmistakable: the whole debt remains in view until it is paid.
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