What Does Luke 4:36 Mean?
And they were all amazed, and spoke among themselves, saying, What word is this! For with authority and power he commands the unclean breaths, and they come out.
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 they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.THE KEY
Here a word is not information about release; it is the command that makes release happen.
THE MEANING
The scene holds authority and power together: he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. Speaking to you now, the verse presents his word as having the force to expel what occupies and defiles.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that an unclean force is immovable or must be negotiated with: here it is commanded, and it comes out.
THE ROOT
ἐπιτάσσει
epitássei
GROWS FROM
τάσσω
tassō
To arrange, appoint, or put in order.
“commands” in this verse is epitássei. The verb comes from a word-family of ordering: the command places what is out of order under direction. Its effect is visible in the verse, the unclean spirits come out.
ALSO GROWS
taxis: Order, arrangement, or rank.
τάξις
This branch makes the ordering sense beneath the command easier to see.
diatássō: To arrange, prescribe, or give instructions.
διατάσσω
It carries the same ordering root into a directive that sets things in place.
πνεύματα
pneúmata
GROWS FROM
πνευ-
pneu-
Blow or breathe; air in motion.
“breaths” in this verse is pneúmata. The Greek word-family links πνεῦμα (pneuma, breath) with blowing and breath, giving the unseen presence in this scene a bodily resonance. The verse shows these unclean pneúmata being sent out by the command.
ALSO GROWS
pnéō: To blow or breathe.
πνέω
This verb reveals the breath and moving-air sense held in the same word-family.
pnoḗ: Breath or a blast of air.
πνοή
This related noun makes the word-family’s bodily sense explicit.
δύναμις
dýnamis
GROWS FROM
δυνα-
dyna-
To be able; capacity or ability.
“power” in this verse is dýnamis. The verse pairs ἐξουσία (exousía, authority or right) with δύναμις (dýnamis, effective capacity). The command has both authority behind it and the ability to take effect.
ALSO GROWS
dýnamai: To be able or capable.
δύναμαι
This verb shows the ability at the center of the word-family.
dynatós: Able, capable, or powerful.
δυνατός
This branch carries the same capacity into a description of what can act effectively.
THE PATTERN
A commanding word releases what holds a person, and its effect can be seen in what leaves and what is restored.
He sends his word and heals them, and slips them free from their pits.When evening had come, they brought to him many held by demons; and he cast out the breaths with a word, and healed all who were sick.And all were stirred, so that they asked among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new teaching is this? With authority he commands even the unclean breaths, and they hear and respond to him."THE THREAD
And all were stirred, so that they asked among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new teaching is this? With authority he commands even the unclean breaths, and they hear and respond to him."Mark uses the same verb, ἐπιτάσσει (epitássei, commands), from τάσσω (tassō, to arrange or put in order), for the command over the unclean spirits. Luke pairs authority with power, making clear that the command carries both the right to order and the capacity to act.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us