What Does Luke 22:12 Mean?
And he will show you a large upper room, already spread. Prepare there.
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 he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.THE KEY
The room is already laid out, yet it still must be made ready: provision is present before preparation is complete.
THE MEANING
A place is shown already arranged, and there is still preparation to do. Provision and participation sit side by side: the room is available, but its readiness is brought to completion. The verse holds what is given together with what is still being prepared.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that when a place is provided, nothing remains to prepare.
THE ROOT
ἐστρωμένον
estrōmenon
GROWS FROM
στρώννυμι
strōnnymi
To spread, strew, or lay out.
“already spread” in this verse is estrōmenon. “Furnished” carries the image of something spread out and arranged. The next phrase shifts from what is already laid out to the remaining work of making the room ready.
ALSO GROWS
strōma: Bed or bedding; something spread out.
στρῶμα
A bed is a surface laid out for use, echoing the room’s arranged state.
strōson: Spread or lay out; used for making a bed (Acts 9:34).
στρῶσον
This form makes the root’s physical sense visible: what is furnished has been spread or laid out.
ἑτοιμάσατε
hetoimasate
GROWS FROM
ἑτοιμαζ-
hetoimaz-
To prepare, bring into readiness.
“prepare” in this verse is hetoimasate. The command shares its word family with the words for “ready” and “readiness.” The verse joins a prepared arrangement to the further act that brings it into readiness.
ALSO GROWS
hetoimos: Ready or prepared.
ἕτοιμος
It names the state toward which the command to prepare moves.
hetoimasia: Preparation or readiness.
ἑτοιμασία
It holds the action and resulting state together, as the verse does.
THE PATTERN
Preparation makes room for what is coming: a way is cleared, a place is prepared, or a table is set.
A voice calls out in the wilderness, Clear the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a raised road for our God.In my Father's house are many places to remain. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to make ready a place for you.And he sent his servant at supper time to say to those who had been called, Come, for everything is now ready.THE THREAD
And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat.The same verb, ἑτοιμάζω (hetoimazō, “to prepare”), appears in both commands. Preparation gathers the meal and the room into one act of making ready.
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