What Does Luke 7:40 Mean?
And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Teacher, speak.
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 Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.THE KEY
Jesus answers the judgment Simon keeps inside, because in Greek even the hidden thought is already a saying.
THE MEANING
The verse meets you where a judgment remains inside: what you have not spoken is still within the reach of response. Jesus addresses Simon by name and asks for room to speak; Simon’s “Master, say on” opens a hearing in which his view of the woman can be exposed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
What I keep unspoken cannot be seen or answered.
THE ROOT
ἀποκριθείς
apokritheis
GROWS FROM
κρίνω (krinō), stem κριν-
To separate or distinguish; by extension, to decide or judge.
The Greek verb for “answering” is built on the κριν- word family, which includes judging and deciding. Jesus’ response lands where Simon has formed a silent verdict; the Greek lets the judgment-response connection be heard.
ALSO GROWS
krinō: To judge, decide, or distinguish.
κρίνω
The family carries the language of judgment alongside the response Jesus gives Simon.
krisis: Judgment or decision.
κρίσις
Jesus’ answer arrives at the moment Simon has already formed an inward verdict about the woman.
apokrisis: An answer or response.
ἀπόκρισις
This related word preserves the direct response sense of the verb in the verse.
εἰπεῖν
eipein eipe
GROWS FROM
λέγω (legō), stem λεγ-
To say, speak, or tell.
Jesus’ “said” and Simon’s “say on” are forms of λέγω, the same verb used for Simon “saying within himself” in the preceding verse. His inward verdict and Jesus’ spoken reply belong to one field of saying: what Simon holds silently is already speech, and it is answered with speech.
ALSO GROWS
legōn: Saying; the present participle of λέγω.
λέγων
Luke 7:39 uses this form for Simon’s private “saying,” linking his inward verdict directly to the words exchanged here.
logos: A word, message, or account.
λόγος
Jesus begins to offer an account that can reshape the story Simon is telling himself about the woman.
dialogos: Conversation or discourse.
διάλογος
Simon’s “say on” keeps the exchange open for the parable that follows.
THE PATTERN
An inward word is already present to divine knowledge, and what is hidden can be answered directly.
And the LORD said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I truly bear a child, I who am old?For there is no word on my tongue; behold, LORD, you perceive all of it.Straightway Jesus perceived in his breath that they reasoned this way within themselves, and he said to them, Why do you reason these things in your hearts?THE THREAD
When the separated one who had invited him saw this, he spoke within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what kind of woman this is who clings to him, for she is one who misses the mark.Luke 7:39 uses λέγων, “saying,” from the same λέγω family as Jesus’ “said” and Simon’s “say on” here. Simon’s private verdict is already framed as speech; Jesus answers it before Simon voices it aloud.
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