What Does Matthew 8:22 Mean in the King James?
But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
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
Jesus uses the same Greek word for the person to be buried and the people left to bury him, exposing bodily death and a life that can still answer his call.
THE MEANING
The verse meets you where death’s claims and the call to follow touch in your present life. Its repeated word names both the physically dead and those occupied with death’s ordinary work; “Follow me” turns you toward a living response. Burial remains real, but it does not define the one who answers.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that every claim tied to death must be completed before you can answer the call of life.
THE ROOT
νεκρούς
nekrous
GROWS FROM
νεκρ
nekr
Dead; a dead body or corpse.
“dead” in this verse is nekrous. The same Greek word, νεκρούς, appears twice: first for those who bury, then for the one buried. The word can hold bodily death and a life closed to the summons, while “Follow me” marks the living response.
ALSO GROWS
nekroō: To make dead, put to death, or render powerless.
νεκρόω
This verb carries the same root into the act of becoming dead, sharpening the contrast between death’s condition and the response to Jesus’ call.
nekrōsis: Deadness; the state or process of being dead.
νέκρωσις
This noun makes the condition behind “the dead” explicit, while the verse distinguishes that condition from the person being called to follow.
ἄφες
aphes
GROWS FROM
ἀφίημι
aphiēmi
To send away, leave, let go, or permit.
The verb translated “let” can also mean to leave or send away, giving the permission a shade of release. A related noun, ἄφεσις, means release or forgiveness; here the burial is left to those already occupied with death, while the addressed person is called onward.
ALSO GROWS
aphesis: Release, remission, or forgiveness.
ἄφεσις
This related word shows how the verb’s family can carry the sense of releasing what is held.
apheinai: To leave, send away, permit, or forgive.
ἀφεῖναι
This form preserves the range of the word translated “let,” from permission to leaving something behind.
ἀκολούθει
akolouthei
GROWS FROM
ἀκολουθ
akolouth
To follow or accompany.
“Follow” in this verse is akolouthei. The command names an ongoing following, a life of accompanying Jesus. In this sentence, that movement stands against remaining with death’s ordinary claims.
ALSO GROWS
akolouthos: A follower, companion, or attendant.
ἀκόλουθος
The related noun names the person who accompanies, making “follow me” a relationship as well as a direction.
parakoloutheō: To follow closely, accompany, or attend.
παρακολουθέω
This compound carries the same following into close attendance, deepening the sense of staying with the one who calls.
THE PATTERN
A call into a new way of life can reorder the claims of home, family, and work.
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: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?And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.THE THREAD
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.John uses the same word for the dead who hear the Son’s voice and live. That shared root makes the distinction here sharper: death can name a body, while the call of the Son reaches a living response.
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