What Does Matthew 8:6 Mean in the King James?
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
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 for paralysis carries the image of movement coming unloosed, while the verse names torment still gripping the person.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now of a body whose movement is gone and whose torment is severe, without making either condition vague. It also shows that suffering can be carried into care by another voice when the afflicted person is not the one speaking.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that pain only counts when the person suffering can explain it or seek help for themselves.
THE ROOT
παραλυτικός
paralytikos
GROWS FROM
λύω (lyō), stem λυ- (ly-)
To loosen, unbind, or release.
“palsy” in this verse is paralytikos. Παραλυτικός (paralytikos, paralyzed) is formed from παρά (para, beside) and λύω (lyō, loosen). The English word names a condition; the Greek also carries an image of movement coming unloosed, even as the verse separately names the person’s severe torment.
ALSO GROWS
lyō: To loosen or unbind.
λύω
This verb sits at the center of παραλυτικός (paralytikos, paralyzed) and gives the word its image of movement coming unloosed.
apolyō: To release, dismiss, or send away.
ἀπολύω
This compound uses the same λύω (lyō, loosen) stem, showing how the root can also name release.
katalyō: To loosen down, dismantle, or take apart.
καταλύω
This compound keeps the root’s physical sense of something being loosened visible.
THE PATTERN
One person’s suffering can be carried into the open by another person’s appeal.
And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.THE THREAD
And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.The next verse answers the report of paralysis and torment with the servant’s healing in the selfsame hour. What is carried to Jesus through another person’s appeal reaches the suffering body.
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