What Does Matthew 10:6 Mean?
But go rather to the sheep of the house of Israel that have lost the way.
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 go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.THE KEY
“Lost” does not revoke “sheep”: the summons moves toward those whose danger has not erased their belonging.
THE MEANING
The summons moves toward Israel’s lost sheep, still named as belonging even while their lostness carries danger. For you now, losing the way does not erase belonging or place you beyond the reach of the summons.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being lost means you no longer belong, or that no one can reach you.
THE ROOT
ἀπολωλότα
apolōlota
GROWS FROM
ἀπόλλυμι
apollymi
To perish, be lost, or lose the way.
“have lost the way” in this verse is apolōlota. The Greek word translated “lost” belongs to the same word family as “perish” and “lose.” English can make lost sound like mere absence; the Greek also carries danger, even as the verse continues to name them sheep of Israel’s house.
ALSO GROWS
apolesei: shall lose
ἀπολέσει
In Matthew 16:25, this form of the same word family links losing with the stakes of a life, deepening the urgency of the summons toward the lost.
apolētai: should perish
ἀπόληται
In John 3:16, the same word family names perishing, showing that “lost” here can carry the weight of real danger.
THE PATTERN
Lostness names a sheep’s departure from its way while leaving it within reach of seeking and return.
I wander like a sheep that loses the way; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commands.What man among you, holding a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after the one that has lost its way until he finds it?For you were as sheep wandering; but now you have turned back toward the Shepherd and Watcher of your living souls.THE THREAD
For God so loved the world that he gave his only-born Son, that everyone who leans their full weight into him should not perish, but have the life of the ages.The Greek verb behind “lost” here and the verb rendered “perish” in John 3:16 are forms of ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi), “perish, lose.” That shared word family makes the danger in the sheep’s condition audible, while Matthew still names them as belonging to Israel’s house.
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