What Does Luke 22:48 Mean?
But Jesus said unto him, Judas, are you handing over the Son of Man with a kiss?
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
But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?THE KEY
The Greek verb beneath “betrayest” means “hand over,” while the kiss belongs to the language of affection: intimacy becomes the marker of delivery.
THE MEANING
The verse holds a kiss and a handover together: Judas marks Jesus with an affectionate gesture as he gives him over. It reveals how closeness can carry an act of exposure instead of care.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that an affectionate gesture guarantees faithful intent.
THE ROOT
παραδίδως
paradidōs
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
δίδωμι (didōmi) means “to give”; joined with παρά, it forms the sense “give over” or “hand over.”
“are handing over” in this verse is paradidōs. The verb behind “betrayest” is παραδίδως, from παραδίδωμι: to hand over or deliver. The word keeps “giving” visible inside the betrayal, showing Judas transferring Jesus into another’s power.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: Give, grant, or place into someone’s hands.
δίδωμι
This base verb keeps the act of giving visible inside the compound that names Judas’s handover.
paradidōmi: Give over or deliver into another’s hands.
παραδίδωμι
This is the compound verb behind παραδίδως; it makes the direction of Judas’s act explicit.
φιλήματι
philēmati
GROWS FROM
φιλέω
φιλέω (phileō) means “to love” or “to show affection.”
Luke’s word for “kiss,” φίλημα, belongs to the φιλέω family of love and affection. The Greek holds that affectionate register inside the gesture itself: Judas uses a sign of attachment while handing Jesus over.
ALSO GROWS
philēma: A kiss, an affectionate gesture.
φίλημα
This is the noun used in the verse; its family links the gesture to affection.
philos: A friend or someone dear.
φίλος
Its shared φιλ- stem ties the kiss to the language of closeness and attachment.
philia: Friendship or affection.
φιλία
This related word keeps the affectionate meaning of the shared φιλ- family in view.
יְהוּדָה
Yehudah
GROWS FROM
ידה
יָדָה (yādāh) means “to praise” or “to give thanks”; Yehudah is associated with this root.
The name Judas carries the Hebrew name Yehudah, associated with praise and thanksgiving. The verse places that name beside a kiss that functions as a handover, sharpening the contrast between the name’s meaning and the act.
ALSO GROWS
yādāh: To praise or give thanks.
יָדָה
This is the root associated with the name Yehudah and supplies its praise-bearing sense.
tōdāh: Thanksgiving or thanks.
תּוֹדָה
This related Hebrew form carries the root’s praise and gratitude into the language of thanksgiving.
THE PATTERN
A sign of closeness can conceal the act of handing someone into harm.
Steady are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.And Joab said to Amasa, Is there wholeness for you, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not guard against the sword that was in Joab's hand, so he struck him with it in the fifth rib, and poured out his bowels to the ground, and did not strike him a second time, and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba, son of Bichri.And at once he came to Jesus and said, Hail, teacher, and kissed him.THE THREAD
As soon as he arrived, he went straight to him and said, Teacher, teacher, and kissed him.Mark uses κατεφίλησεν (katephilēsen, “kissed”) from the φιλέω (phileō, “love” or “show affection”) word family behind Luke’s φίλημα (philēma, “kiss”). The shared root keeps affection inside the sign itself: the gesture marks the person Judas hands over.
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