What Does Luke 7:22 Mean?
Jesus answered and said to them, Go, and tell John what you have seen and heard, that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are roused, and the good news is brought to the emptied.
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
Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.THE KEY
The final sign is that good news reaches the poor: announcement itself belongs beside restored sight, movement, cleansing, hearing, and life.
THE MEANING
The signs form one present picture of blocked capacities opening: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised. The poor also receive good news, so restoration reaches both the body and the person’s place in the world. Deliverance becomes visible and heard.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the poor stand outside the reach of good news: the final line places them among its direct recipients.
THE ROOT
εὐαγγελίζονται
euangelizontai
GROWS FROM
εὐαγγελίζομαι
euangelizomai
to announce or bring good news
“the gospel is preached” in this verse is euangelizontai. English “preached” names the act, while this word family also carries the good news being delivered. The poor stand as direct recipients of an announcement whose meaning is itself good news.
ALSO GROWS
euangelion: good news, gospel
εὐαγγέλιον
The noun names the message this verb announces, joining the act of preaching to the content of good news.
angelos: messenger
ἄγγελος
The word family carries the image of news being delivered; the poor receive a message that arrives to them.
ἐγείρονται
egeirontai
GROWS FROM
ἐγείρω
egeirō
to wake, rouse, or raise up
“roused” in this verse is egeirontai. The verb translated “are raised” also means to wake or rouse. It lets resurrection sound as awakening, a movement in the same field as the other capacities returning.
ALSO GROWS
diegeirō: to wake or awaken
διεγείρω
This compound carries the same root into the act of waking someone, keeping that sense present in the raising of the dead.
egersis: rising, resurrection
ἔγερσις
This related noun names the rising that the verb enacts.
THE PATTERN
Wholeness becomes visible as blocked capacities open and good news reaches the poor.
Then the eyes of the blind open, and the ears of the deaf open.The breath of the Lord LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the bowed ones; he has sent me to bind up the broken of heart, to proclaim flowing freedom to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are chained.And leaping up, he stood and walked, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.THE THREAD
The breath of the LORD is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the emptied. He has sent me to heal the shattered in heart, to herald release to the captives, and the return of sight for the blind, to send the crushed away into release.The same Greek word family, εὐαγγελίζομαι (euangelizomai, “announce good news”), names the message brought to the poor in both verses. Luke 4:18 joins that announcement to release and restored sight, unfolding the signs in 7:22 as one movement toward wholeness.
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