What Does Matthew 9:13 Mean in the King James?

But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Matthew 9:13 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The call toward turning grows out of mercy, not from having first qualified as righteous.

THE MEANING

The verse places mercy above sacrifice as what God desires. The call reaches the person who is missing and opens toward a turn; the present miss is not the end of the sentence.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This undoes the belief that you must first become righteous to be called, or that sacrifice can stand in for mercy.

THE ROOT

ἔλεος

eleos

GROWS FROM

ἐλε-

Mercy, pity, compassion.

Matthew’s Greek ⁨ἔλεος⁩ (eleos, mercy) renders the Hebrew ⁨חֶסֶד⁩ (ḥesed, faithful love) in the saying from Hosea, bringing relational loyalty into view. The related Greek words show mercy as something enacted, so the saying weighs living care against sacrifice rather than making compassion a mood.

ALSO GROWS

eleeō: Show mercy

ἐλεέω

This verb carries the same mercy word family into an action toward another.

eleēmosynē: Almsgiving; an act of mercy

ἐλεημοσύνη

This related word shows mercy expressed through tangible care.

ἁμαρτωλούς

hamartōlous

GROWS FROM

ἁμαρτ-

Miss, fail, err.

The Greek ⁨ἁμαρτωλούς⁩ (hamartōlous, sinners) belongs to the ⁨ἁμαρτ-⁩ family of missing or failing. The sentence does not make the miss a person’s final identity: it places them on the receiving end of a call toward turning.

ALSO GROWS

hamartanō: Miss, fail, do wrong

ἁμαρτάνω

This verb shares the root and makes the label’s connection to a miss visible.

hamartēma: A failure, offense, or wrong

ἁμάρτημα

This noun names the miss as an act or result, rather than as an unchangeable nature.

μετάνοιαν

metanoian

GROWS FROM

νο-

Mind, perception; the ⁨νο-⁩ element concerns thinking or perceiving.

“repentance” in this verse is metanoian. ⁨Μετάνοια⁩ (metanoia, turning) joins ⁨μετά⁩ (meta, change) with the ⁨νοῦς⁩/⁨νοέω⁩ (nous/noeō, mind/perceive) word family. Here it gives the call a direction: the person who misses is summoned into a changed orientation, not left with remorse as the whole story.

ALSO GROWS

noeō: Think, perceive

νοέω

This related verb makes the perception element beneath ⁨μετάνοια⁩ visible.

dianoia: Mind, understanding

διάνοια

This compound shares the ⁨νο-⁩ family and links the root to the way a person understands.

THE PATTERN

Mercy toward people who miss outranks ritual when ritual is detached from faithful love.

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:6 · KJVHosea names mercy and knowledge of God as more desired than offerings, matching the verse’s measure.

But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

Matthew 12:7 · KJVJesus repeats the same saying where people condemn the guiltless, making mercy the measure of judgment.

For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

James 2:13 · KJVJames places mercy inside judgment itself: mercy rejoices over judgment, while the one who shows none faces judgment without it.

THE THREAD

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Luke 5:32 · KJV

Luke preserves the same Greek phrase ⁨καλέσαι⁩ ... ⁨εἰς μετάνοιαν⁩ (kalesai ... eis metanoian, to call ... to turning). The shared wording makes the movement clear: the call reaches those who miss and aims toward a turn.

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