What Does Luke 23:15 Mean?
Neither did Herod, for I sent you to him, and look, nothing worthy of death has been done by him.
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
No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him.THE KEY
The verse measures the deed against death’s weight, and finds nothing in him that fits.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now wherever a person stands beneath a charge: accusation and actual conduct are not the same thing. It names Jesus as having done nothing that carries the weight of death. His innocence is stated plainly, even when others still have power to harm him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that a person facing death must have done something deserving it; a punishment does not prove the charge beneath it.
THE ROOT
ἄξιον
axion
GROWS FROM
ἀξι-
axio- word family
Having corresponding worth or weight; fitting, deserving.
“worthy” in this verse is axion. The word asks whether any deed measures up to the weight of death. The answer is no: nothing done by him fits that measure.
ALSO GROWS
axia: worth, value
ἀξία
This branch makes the verse’s judgment a question of what the deed is worth against the punishment.
axioō: consider worthy, deem fit
ἀξιόω
This branch shows that “worthy” is a judgment of fitness: no deed here is fit to bear death.
πεπραγμένον
pepragmenon
GROWS FROM
πρασσ-
prass-
To do, carry out, practice.
“done” in this verse is pepragmenon. The word makes the finding about conduct, what has actually been carried out. Paired with “worthy,” it places that conduct against death’s weight and finds no deed that bears it.
ALSO GROWS
praxis: action, practice
πρᾶξις
This branch keeps the focus on the actions being measured, rather than on accusation alone.
pragma: deed, matter, affair
πρᾶγμα
This branch likewise points to the concrete deed at issue in the verdict.
THE PATTERN
When someone is condemned without a deed that bears the punishment, the verdict exposes the violence of judgment.
They gather together against the living soul of an aligned one, and condemn the innocent blood.He who aligns the wicked, and he who convicts the aligned one, both are loathed by the LORD.And when they had withdrawn, they spoke with one another, saying, This man does nothing of equal weight to death or to bonds.THE THREAD
I found him charged over questions they sought in their instruction, yet nothing laid to his charge was worthy of death or of bindings.Acts 23:29 repeats “worthy of death” and extends the measure to bonds. The shared phrase separates being accused from having a deed that can bear the punishment.
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