What Does Matthew 11:18 Mean?
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they 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 came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.THE KEY
John’s abstinence is visible, but the demon charge is only the crowd’s interpretation of it.
THE MEANING
The verse places John’s abstaining from food and drink beside the claim that he has a demon. When someone gives your conduct a hostile explanation, that accusation remains their reading; it does not make the explanation true.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a confident spiritual accusation proves what is wrong with the person named: it presents the charge as what the speakers say, not as what John is.
THE ROOT
δαιμόνιον
daimonion
GROWS FROM
δαίμων
daimōn
A spirit or supernatural being; here, a demon.
The Greek is δαιμόνιον (daimonion, “demon”), from the family of δαίμων (daimōn, “spirit being”), rather than διάβολος (diabolos, “Slanderer”). The verse marks this as their accusation, “they say”, so the word reveals the charge of demonic influence without affirming it as John’s nature.
ALSO GROWS
daimōn: A spirit or supernatural being.
δαίμων
This related word makes clear that the charge frames John’s abstinence as the influence of a spirit.
daimonizomai: To be afflicted or possessed by a demon.
δαιμονίζομαι
This related verb describes the state the speakers imply, showing how they turn John’s conduct into an explanation about his person.
THE PATTERN
People can turn a messenger’s conduct or presence into evidence against the message.
And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Are you the one who muddies Israel?And many of them said, He has a demon and is raving. Why do you hear him?The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look, a man, a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax collectors and of those who miss the mark. But wisdom is made aligned by her children.THE THREAD
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look, a man, a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax collectors and of those who miss the mark. But wisdom is made aligned by her children.Both verses use ἔρχομαι (erchomai, “come”): John comes abstaining, while the Son of Man comes eating and drinking. The repeated verb sets opposite ways of coming side by side, and both draw accusations.
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