What Does Luke 24:29 Mean?
But they pressed him, saying, Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day has already leaned. And he went in to stay with them.
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 they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.THE KEY
The same Greek verb turns the travelers’ request to “abide” into his act of “tarrying”: welcome becomes a place of remaining.
THE MEANING
At the edge of the day, the desire for presence becomes an open door. “Abide” and “tarry” are forms of the same Greek verb: the remaining they ask for is what happens as he enters and stays.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The day is nearly over, so the moment for welcome has passed.
THE ROOT
μεῖνον
meinon
GROWS FROM
μένω
menō
To remain, stay, or continue.
“stay” in this verse is meinon. English gives the plea as “Abide” and the action as “tarry,” but both are forms of μένω (menō), meaning “remain.” The verse repeats one movement: they ask him to remain, and he enters in order to remain.
ALSO GROWS
meinai: To stay or remain; the infinitive form used later in this verse.
μεῖναι
The English changes from “abide” to “tarry,” while the Greek keeps the same root for their request and his response.
monē: A place of staying or dwelling.
μονή
This related noun makes visible how remaining can become a dwelling, as in John 14:23, “make our abode with him.”
THE PATTERN
A welcome turns a passing encounter into shared space.
And it fell on a day that Elisha passed on to Shunem, where there was a great woman, and she held him fast to eat bread. And so it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned aside there to eat bread.And when she was immersed, and her household, she urged us, saying, If you have judged me steady in the Lord, come into my house and stay there. And she pressed us.Do not let slip the opening of your home to strangers, for by it some have sheltered messengers without knowing it.THE THREAD
Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, that one will guard my word, and my Father will love that one, and we will come to him and make a place to remain with him.In Luke, “abide” and “tarry” are both forms of μένω, and the related noun μονή means “dwelling” or “abode.” John makes that dwelling explicit: the presence received is also the presence that makes an abode with the one who receives him.
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