What Does Revelation 11:2 Mean in the King James?
But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
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 city is still called holy while it is being trampled: sacredness does not make it untouchable.
THE MEANING
The passage holds two realities together: the outer court is cast outside the measured boundary, and the city remains set apart while it is handed over and trampled for a counted span. Holiness names what the city is; it does not promise immunity from pressure.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If something is truly set apart, it cannot be exposed to harm; being trampled proves it has lost its sacredness.
THE ROOT
ἔκβαλε
ekbale
GROWS FROM
βαλλ- (ball-), the stem of βάλλω (ballō)
Throw or cast; with ἐκ- (ek-, out), ἐκβάλλω (ekballō) means cast out.
“Leave out” can sound like merely omitting something from a count, but the Greek gives it a spatial force: cast outside. The court is placed beyond the measured boundary.
ALSO GROWS
ballō: Throw, cast
βάλλω
This is the basic verb beneath the command to cast the court outside.
apoballō: Cast away, throw off
ἀποβάλλω
The same root can describe something being thrown from one’s hold, as in Hebrews 10:35.
πατήσουσιν
patēsousin
GROWS FROM
πατ- (pat-), the verbal stem of πατέω (patéō)
Step or tread upon; here, the nations will trample the city.
“tread under foot” in this verse is patēsousin. The verb names trampling, not merely being present in the city. The city’s designation as set apart stands beside that force, so harm does not erase what the text calls it.
ALSO GROWS
patéō: Tread, step upon
πατέω
This is the verb used here and in Luke 10:19, where the object underfoot is serpents.
katapatéō: Trample down, tread underfoot
καταπατέω
The related compound makes the downward force explicit, as in Matthew 7:6.
ἁγίαν
hagian
GROWS FROM
ἁγι- (hagi-), the stem of ἅγιος (hágios)
Set apart; holy.
The city is called holy in the very clause that says it will be trampled. The word carries its set-apart character alongside the violence; it does not promise physical invulnerability.
ALSO GROWS
hágios: Set apart, holy
ἅγιος
The same word describes what remains true of the city in this verse.
hagiasmós: Setting apart, consecration
ἁγιασμός
This related word makes the root’s sense of being set apart visible as an action or state.
THE PATTERN
A place called holy can still be handed over to outside power and trampled for a bounded season.
Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.THE THREAD
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.The same Greek verb, πατέω (patéō, “tread”), describes the city underfoot here and serpents underfoot in Luke. The shared word holds both trampling and a reversal of who is underfoot; the surrounding verse shows who is acting.
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