What Does Luke 18:35 Mean?
And it happened that as he drew near Jericho, a certain blind man sat beside the road, begging.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:THE KEY
The man cannot see Jesus approaching, yet his need is already being voiced where Jesus is drawing near.
THE MEANING
You see a man who cannot see, seated beside the road and asking for help as Jesus approaches Jericho. His need is already active in the scene: he is asking from the roadside before the encounter unfolds.
THE ROOT
ἐπαιτῶν
epaitōn
GROWS FROM
αἰτέω
aiteō
to ask or request
The Greek participle ἐπαιτῶν (epaitōn, begging) presents him in the act of asking as Jesus draws near. Its αἰτέω (aiteō, ask/request) root keeps the action visible: the man is not reduced to a condition, but shown making his need known.
ALSO GROWS
aitēma: A request or petition
αἴτημα
This noun from the same root keeps a request recognizable as something expressed, like the man’s roadside asking.
aitēsis: An act of asking or a request
αἴτησις
This branch preserves the movement of asking that the English word “begging” can make sound like a fixed identity.
THE PATTERN
A need voiced in asking can become the opening through which help reaches the one who asks.
This bowed one cries out, and the LORD hears him, and brings him out of all his narrow places.Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.And he cried out, saying, Jesus, Son of David, show me faithful love!THE THREAD
Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.Luke’s word for “begging” is built on αἰτέω (aiteō, ask/request), the same Greek verb family behind “Ask” here. The shared root lets the roadside act of asking open onto a wider pattern: need voiced, then an answer or opening.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us