What Does Matthew 8:21 Mean in the King James?

And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

Matthew 8:21 · 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.

THE KEY

The hinge is “first”: a real duty is named as the condition that must come before following.

THE MEANING

You can name Jesus as Lord while another claim still stands ahead of following. Here the speaker asks permission to put burial first, and the verse leaves that order exposed.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Calling Jesus “Lord” does not automatically mean every other priority has moved behind him; this request shows the tension between confession and order.

THE ROOT

πρῶτον

prōton

GROWS FROM

πρωτ-

prōt-

First, foremost; what holds precedence.

This word does more than mark a time: it places the requested duty ahead of following. Its Greek family can describe holding first place or being firstborn, so “first” carries a question of order within the sentence.

ALSO GROWS

prōteuō: To be first; to hold first place.

πρωτεύω

This branch makes the word’s sense of priority clear: the speaker asks to put burial at the front of the sequence.

prōtotokos: Firstborn.

πρωτότοκος

Here, firstness marks precedence within a family order, illuminating the speaker’s appeal to family duty before following.

THE PATTERN

The call to follow brings the order of competing obligations into the open.

And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?

1 Kings 19:20 · KJVElisha names a family obligation before following, bringing the order of those claims into view.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 6:33 · KJVThe word “first” makes the ordering of what matters explicit.

And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

Luke 9:59 · KJVThe same request places burial ahead of following in plain words.

THE THREAD

But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

Matthew 8:22 · KJV

Jesus answers the requested order with a stark reversal: the speaker asks to bury his father before following, while Jesus says, “Follow me” first. The reply leaves the collision between burial and following unsoftened.

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