What Does Matthew 6:19 Mean in the King James?
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
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
In Greek, “lay up” and “treasures” echo the same word-family, tying the act of accumulation to what can eat through and steal what is stored.
THE MEANING
Earthly treasure remains exposed to decay and theft; the verse places that vulnerability inside the place where it is stored. Gathering more cannot turn earth into a secure vault.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that enough earthly wealth can guarantee security is undone: decay and theft are already part of the conditions surrounding it.
THE ROOT
θησαυρίζετε
thēsaurizete
GROWS FROM
θησαυρ-
thēsaur- stem
Store or treasure; this Greek word-family links the act of storing with the treasure stored.
The English separates “lay up” from “treasures,” but the Greek echoes the same stem in both words. Accumulating treasure and the treasure accumulated are bound together in the wording.
ALSO GROWS
thēsauros: treasure; storehouse
θησαυρός
This related noun names what the verse says is being stored.
thēsaurizō: to store up or accumulate as treasure
θησαυρίζω
This is the dictionary form of the verb used for “lay up,” making its link to “treasures” audible in Greek.
βρῶσις
brōsis
GROWS FROM
βρω-
brō- stem
Eat or consume; βρῶσις names eating or consumption and, here, corrosion.
The KJV’s “rust” can sound like a condition that simply sits on an object; the Greek word βρῶσις (brōsis, “consumption”) pictures something eating through it. The verse places this consuming force alongside the moth as a way earthly treasure is worn away.
ALSO GROWS
bibrōskō: to eat or devour
βιβρώσκω
This verb from the same word-family makes the consuming image behind “rust” more visible.
brōma: food
βρῶμα
This related word also carries the sense of what is eaten, echoing the image of treasure being consumed.
THE PATTERN
Earthly treasure remains exposed to loss through decay, disappearance, or theft, however much is gathered.
Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.THE THREAD
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.“Heaped treasure together” translates ἐθησαυρίσατε (ethēsaurisate, “you stored up treasure”), from the same Greek word-family as “lay up” here. James sharpens Matthew’s image: the stored wealth itself can become testimony against the one who holds it.
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