What Does Matthew 15:24 Mean?
But he answered and said, I am not sent except to the sheep of the house of Israel that have lost their 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 he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.THE KEY
The “lost” sheep are not simply out of sight: the Greek word can also mean perishing, so this mission is aimed at people in a condition of ruin.
THE MEANING
This sentence meets you with a mission defined by both people and condition: Israel’s sheep who are lost. The word translated “lost” also carries the force of perishing and ruin, giving the image stakes beyond being out of sight. The boundary is stated plainly, and so is the need it names.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the assumption that “lost” means only temporarily out of view; its Greek word also carries the sense of perishing.
THE ROOT
ἀπολωλότα
apolōlota
GROWS FROM
ἀπόλλυμι
To perish, be lost, or be destroyed; in active use, to ruin or destroy.
“lost their way” in this verse is apolōlota. The form here describes sheep who have become lost and remain in that condition. The same word family reaches into perishing and ruin, letting that danger sound inside the flock image.
ALSO GROWS
apollymenos: perishing; being destroyed
ἀπολλύμενος
This form of the same verb makes the connection between being lost and being in the process of perishing explicit.
apōleia: ruin; destruction; loss
ἀπώλεια
This related noun shows how the word family can name the ruin bound up with being lost.
ἀπεστάλην
apestalēn
GROWS FROM
ἀποστέλλω
apostellō
To send out, dispatch, or commission.
The sentence describes a directed sending, with its destination built into the commission. The word family connects the act of sending with the messenger who is sent.
ALSO GROWS
apostolos: a sent one; messenger
ἀπόστολος
The messenger’s identity grows from the same language of being sent that Jesus uses here.
apostolē: a sending; commission
ἀποστολή
This noun makes the sending itself visible as a defined task with a destination.
THE PATTERN
The search turns toward those who are lost, with the aim of bringing them back.
I wander like a sheep that loses the way; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commands.I will seek the one who lost the way, and bring back the driven away, and bind up the broken, and hold up the sick. But the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.For the Son of Man has come to seek and to deliver that which had lost its way.THE THREAD
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to deliver that which had lost its way.Both verses use a perfect form of ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi), meaning “perish” or “be lost.” Matthew names Israel as the field of this sending; Luke names seeking and deliverance as its purpose.
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