What Does Matthew 8:16 Mean in the King James?
When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
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 word is not merely a report of healing; it is the means by which what grips is released and the sick are restored.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks to you now with an image of complete reach: what grips and what sickens both meet the same authority. Release and care belong to one action here, and neither is treated as beyond reach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what holds you and what weakens you require separate powers to meet them.
THE ROOT
λόγῳ
logō
GROWS FROM
λέγω (legō), with the related stem λεγ-/λογ-
Say, speak; logos is a saying, word, or account.
The Greek word for “word” carries the sense of a spoken account, not just a sound. Here, the logos is active: it sends out what holds and accompanies healing.
ALSO GROWS
legō: Say, speak.
λέγω
The family link keeps logos tied to the act of speaking that brings the change in this verse.
logizomai: Reckon, account.
λογίζομαι
This related word preserves the family’s sense of an account or reckoning, giving logos substance beyond a passing utterance.
τὰ πνεύματα
ta pneumata
GROWS FROM
πνέω (pneō), stem πνε-
Breathe, blow; the motion of air.
The Greek word rendered “spirits” belongs to the same word family as breath and wind. The verse names what is cast out as pneumata, keeping the unseen within a word-family whose root meaning is breath or blowing.
ALSO GROWS
pneō: Breathe, blow.
πνέω
This verb makes the breath-and-wind root of pneuma visible beneath the verse’s word for spirits.
pnoē: Breath, blowing, or wind.
πνοή
This related noun shows how the same root names breath and moving air as well as the verse’s unseen forces.
ἐθεράπευσεν
etherapeusen
GROWS FROM
θεραπεύω
therapeuō
Attend to, care for; by extension, heal.
The verb translated “healed” belongs to a family that also means attending to or caring for someone. In the verse, this care follows the expulsion in the same sentence, making restoration the companion of release.
ALSO GROWS
therapeia: Care, service, or healing.
θεραπεία
This related noun keeps the sense of healing joined to the act of care.
therapeutēs: An attendant or caregiver.
θεραπευτής
This branch shows the family’s connection to attending to someone, giving the verse’s healing a sense of direct care.
THE PATTERN
A word spoken with authority acts on what it reaches, bringing change where darkness, affliction, or disorder holds.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.THE THREAD
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.“Word” in both verses is logos: in 8:8, the centurion trusts that a spoken word can heal at a distance; in 8:16, that word expels the spirits as Jesus heals the sick. The repeated word shows authority reaching the suffering through speech.
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