What Does Revelation 3:7 Mean in the King James?

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

Revelation 3:7 · 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 Greek word for “key” belongs to the same word family as “shut,” so the key already carries the image of both access and closure.

THE MEANING

The speaker is set apart and true, and authority over access rests with him. When he opens, no human being can shut; when he shuts, no human being can open. The verse speaks to you now of an authority no person can overrule.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that another person’s obstruction has the final word over what is opened or shut.

THE ROOT

κλείς

kleis

GROWS FROM

κλει-

klei-

The word family carries the sense of shutting or closing.

The Greek word ⁨κλείς⁩ (kleis), “key,” belongs to the word family of ⁨κλείω⁩ (kleiō), “to shut, close.” The verse’s key therefore holds opening and closure together: the authority that grants access also governs what remains closed.

ALSO GROWS

kleiō: To shut, close.

κλείω

This verb makes the key’s connection to closure audible in the verse’s repeated “shutteth.”

kleistos: Shut, closed.

κλειστός

This branch keeps the key’s sense of closure close to the verse’s claim that no one can open what the speaker shuts.

דָּוִד

Dāwid

GROWS FROM

דוד

d-w-d

Beloved, dear.

The name David carries the root’s shade of “beloved.” “The key of David” joins authority over access to the nature of the beloved king, not only to a lineage name.

ALSO GROWS

dod: Beloved; dear one.

דּוֹד

This root word carries the same belovedness that is compressed into the name David.

dodim: Loves; expressions of affection.

דּוֹדִים

This related form extends the name’s root into the language of love and affection.

THE PATTERN

Authority over the key means authority over both opening and closure, beyond human reversal.

And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

Isaiah 22:22 · KJVThe key and the repeated open-and-shut pair show that the one entrusted with access cannot be overruled.

Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

Job 12:14 · KJVClosure here is final: no human effort can reverse what has been shut.

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Matthew 16:19 · KJVThe keys are linked to authority over what is bound and released.

THE THREAD

And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

Isaiah 22:22 · KJV

Isaiah joins David’s house, a key, and the repeated open-and-shut pair; Revelation repeats that architecture in naming who holds access. Together, the verses make the authority over opening and closure visible.

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