What Does Luke 7:33 Mean?
For John the Immerser came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, He has a demon.
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
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.THE KEY
John’s abstinence becomes evidence against him, revealing that the accusation measures the messenger by the crowd’s habits.
THE MEANING
John’s refusal of bread and wine is called demonic. The next verse shows Jesus condemned for the opposite way of eating and drinking, so the charge tells you as much about the observers as it does about either messenger.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the claim that John’s abstinence proves demonic influence: in the same scene, Jesus is criticized for eating and drinking. When opposite habits both become grounds for dismissal, neither habit is a reliable measure of the messenger.
THE ROOT
δαιμόνιον
daimonion
GROWS FROM
δαιμον-
daimon-
The Greek word family for a spirit-being; in the New Testament, the word commonly means a demon.
The word translated “a devil” here is δαιμόνιον (daimonion, “demon”), from the δαιμον- (daimon-) family. It is distinct from διάβολος (diabolos, “the Slanderer”): here the accusation casts John’s abstinence as evidence of demonic influence.
ALSO GROWS
daimōn: A spirit-being or divine power in Greek usage.
δαίμων
This related form shows the word family’s association with a spirit-being, which the accusation turns into a charge against John.
daimonizomai: To be demonized or afflicted by a demon.
δαιμονίζομαι
This verb makes explicit the kind of influence the speakers attribute to John.
daimoniōdēs: Demonic; belonging to or resembling a demon.
δαιμονιώδης
This related adjective shows how the same word family can describe something as having a demonic character.
THE PATTERN
A messenger’s difference becomes a defect in the eyes of those who reject the message, so opposite behaviors can draw the same charge.
And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Are you the one who muddies Israel?The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, Look, a gluttonous man and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and of those who miss the mark!And many of them said, He has a demon and is raving. Why do you hear him?THE THREAD
And many of them said, He has a demon and is raving. Why do you hear him?Both verses use δαιμόνιον (daimonion, “demon”) to frame a messenger as spiritually suspect. John is charged while abstaining; Jesus is charged after coming to eat and drink, exposing how the same accusation can attach to opposite ways of living.
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