What Does Matthew 17:14 Mean?

And when they came to the crowd, a man came near to him, falling to his knees before him, and saying,

Matthew 17:14 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

THE KEY

Before the man’s request is heard, his body has already made his approach visible.

THE MEANING

You can approach in the middle of a crowd without being lost in it. Before your sentence is complete, your posture can already make the meeting visible; here, speech begins from the lowered body.

THE ROOT

γονυπετῶν

gonypetōn

GROWS FROM

⁨γονυπετέω⁩ (gonypeteō), from ⁨γόνυ⁩ (góny) + ⁨πίπτω⁩ (píptō)

To fall upon the knees.

“falling to his knees” in this verse is gonypetōn. English can make “kneeling down” sound like a detail added to the approach. The Greek verb gathers “knee” and “fall”: the approach itself is a bodily descent, with the spoken appeal only beginning afterward.

ALSO GROWS

góny: knee

γόνυ

This is the bodily point named inside the verb: the man’s approach becomes visible at the knees.

píptō: fall

πίπτω

Its falling sense makes the posture a lowering, not merely standing before Jesus.

THE PATTERN

A bowed knee makes reverence or appeal visible before God.

Enter, let us bow down and kneel before the face of the LORD who makes us.

Psalm 95:6 · SDVThe verse joins bowing and kneeling, making reverence a visible bodily approach.

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of things in heaven, and things on the earth, and things under the earth.

Philippians 2:10 · SDVThe knee gives outward form to the recognition named in the verse.

And when he had said these things, he set his knees down and prayed with them all.

Acts 20:36 · SDVThe body lowers as prayer begins, placing posture alongside speech.

THE THREAD

And a leper came to him, pleading with him, falling to his knees before him, and saying, "If you will, you are able to make me clean."

Mark 1:40 · SDV

Mark uses the same participle, ⁨γονυπετῶν⁩ (gonypetōn, kneeling down), for a man approaching Jesus with a direct plea. There the words that follow the posture are heard; in Matthew, the appeal is just beginning.

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