What Does Matthew 10:19 Mean?
But when they hand you over, do not be pulled apart over how or what you will say, for what you will say will be given to you in that very hour.
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 when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.THE KEY
The Greek verb for being “delivered up” contains the same “give” verb that returns when the words are “given”, the moment of handover is also the moment of provision.
THE MEANING
When you are handed over and required to answer, this verse meets you inside that exposed hour. You do not have to carry the answer ahead of time: what is needed is given when it is needed. The provision arrives within the moment itself.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that you must produce the perfect answer in advance or you will be overwhelmed when the moment comes.
THE ROOT
παραδιδῶσιν
paradidōsin
GROWS FROM
παραδίδωμι
paradidōmi
To hand over or deliver; this compound contains δίδωμι (didōmi), meaning “to give.”
“hand you over” in this verse is paradidōsin. The verb παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi, hand over) contains δίδωμι (didōmi, give). Later in the same sentence, δοθήσεται (dothēsetai, will be given) comes from that same verb. Greek links the handover and the gift through one family of words.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: Give, grant, or place into someone’s hands.
δίδωμι
The verse uses this verb when it says what you shall speak will be given to you; the root of the handover also appears in the provision.
paradosis: A handing over or transmission; also something handed down, such as a teaching or tradition.
παράδοσις
This related word keeps the sense of transfer visible: something passes from one hand or generation to another.
μὴ μεριμνήσητε
mē merimnēsēte
GROWS FROM
μεριμνάω
merimnaō
To be anxious or concerned; to care about something.
“do not be pulled apart” in this verse is mē merimnēsēte. The concern named here is focused: it is anxiety over how or what to say. The same verb describes care directed toward other pressing needs, so this verse places the burden of speech among the concerns that need not be carried ahead of their hour.
ALSO GROWS
merimna: Care, concern, or anxiety.
μέριμνα
This noun names the same family of concern; in Matthew 13:22, the cares of the world choke the word.
merimnaō: To be anxious or concerned; to care for.
μεριμνάω
Matthew 6:34 uses this same verb for anxiety about tomorrow, linking future-focused concern there with the worry about speech addressed here.
THE PATTERN
When speech is demanded under pressure, the needed words are supplied rather than secured by anxious precomposition.
And now go, and I will be with your mouth, and I will teach you what you will speak.And when they bring you before the gatherings and the rulers and the authorities, do not be pulled apart over how or what you will answer, or what you will say.The laying out of the heart is for humankind; the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.THE THREAD
And when they bring you before the gatherings and the rulers and the authorities, do not be pulled apart over how or what you will answer, or what you will say.Luke uses the same Greek verb μεριμνάω (merimnaō, be anxious or concerned) for “take ye no thought.” Its parallel wording makes the concern precise: anxiety about the answer when you are called to answer.
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