What Does Luke 24:19 Mean?
And he said to them, What things? And they said to him, The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, strong in work and in word before God and all the people.
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 said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:THE KEY
The Greek word for “mighty” opens into capacity: here, power is visible in both what Jesus does and what he says.
THE MEANING
Jesus stands before you as one whose power appears in deed and word. Both are visible before God and people; neither stands alone as a private claim.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the split that treats what is said and what is done as unrelated measures: here both express one power.
THE ROOT
δυνατὸς
dynatos
GROWS FROM
δυν-
dyn-
Ability, power, the capacity to act.
“strong” in this verse is dynatos. English “mighty” can sound like a fixed quality, while this Greek root connects might with the capacity to act. The verse makes that capacity visible in both deed and word, before God and people.
ALSO GROWS
dynamai: to be able; to have power
δύναμαι
This verb shares the δυν- stem and names the capacity behind “mighty.”
dynamis: power; ability
δύναμις
This noun shares the stem and names power as an active force.
ἔργῳ
ergō
GROWS FROM
ἔργ-
erg-
Work, activity, what is done.
The Greek noun behind “deed” can name work as well as a completed act. Paired with speech, it shows that the prophet’s force takes shape in both what he does and what he says.
ALSO GROWS
ergon: work; deed
ἔργον
This is the noun’s base form and shares the ἔργ- stem.
ergazomai: to work; to accomplish
ἐργάζομαι
This verb shares the stem and emphasizes work in action.
נָצְרַת
Natzrat
GROWS FROM
נצר
natsar
To guard, watch over, keep.
The place-name carries the image of watching or keeping. Beside the description of Jesus’ deeds and words in view before God and all the people, Nazareth adds a name-level resonance of watchfulness.
ALSO GROWS
natsar: to guard; to keep; to watch over
נָצַר
This verb is the root itself and shares all three consonants with the name.
notser: one who guards or keeps
נֹצֵר
This participle shares the root’s consonants and gives the act of keeping a personal form.
THE PATTERN
A single witness takes shape in both speech and action.
For straight is the word of the LORD, and all his works are done in steadiness.And Moses was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was powerful in words and in works.Do you not trust that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak from myself. But the Father who remains in me does his works.THE THREAD
For the Mighty One has done great things for me, and set apart is his name.The Greek δυνατός (dynatos, mighty) appears in both verses, from δυν- (dyn-), the root of ability and power. Here the travelers describe Jesus as mighty in word and deed; Mary uses the same word for the One whose power has done great things for her.
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