What Does Matthew 14:9 Mean?
And the king was pained, yet because of the oaths and those reclining with him, he commanded it to be given her.
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 the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.THE KEY
The king’s sorrow is real, but the oath and the watching table still govern what he does.
THE MEANING
Sorrow can be real while a promise and an audience still shape the next action. The king grieves, yet he commands that her request be granted. Regret and release from a binding choice are not the same movement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Visible sorrow does not guarantee that the harm will stop.
THE ROOT
ἐλυπήθη
elypēthē from lypeō
GROWS FROM
λυπ-
lyp-
Grief, pain, sorrow.
“pained” in this verse is elypēthē from lypeō. The Greek names genuine grief, not indifference. Yet the sentence holds that grief beside the oath and the guests, so the sorrow does not cancel the action.
ALSO GROWS
lypē: Grief or sorrow.
λύπη
This noun shares the sorrow-root and makes clear that the king’s feeling is pain, even as he gives the command.
perilypos: Exceedingly sorrowful.
περίλυπος
This intensified form appears in Mark’s parallel account, where the same grief remains beside the oath and the guests.
ὅρκους
horkous from horkos
GROWS FROM
ὁρκ-
hork-
An oath or sworn pledge.
The oath is named as a reason for the command, alongside the people at the table. A spoken bond and a watching audience together shape what the king does.
ALSO GROWS
horkizō: To put someone under oath or adjure.
ὁρκίζω
This verb shows the oath-root at work as a binding spoken charge.
exorkizō: To adjure or charge under oath.
ἐξορκίζω
This related verb keeps the focus on words that place someone under a sworn obligation.
THE PATTERN
Sorrow can coexist with an action still governed by a public promise and the people watching.
And the king was encircled by grief; yet for the sake of his oath, and for the sake of those reclining with him, he would not set her aside.The trembling of man sets a snare, but the one who leans his full weight on the LORD is set on high.When Pilate saw that he gained nothing, but that instead an uproar was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this aligned man. You see to it.THE THREAD
And the king was encircled by grief; yet for the sake of his oath, and for the sake of those reclining with him, he would not set her aside.Matthew’s “sorry” comes from λυπέω (lypeō), grief; Mark intensifies the same root family with περίλυπος (perilypos), “exceeding sorry.” Both accounts place the grief beside the oath and the guests, showing that sorrow and the action can remain together.
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