What Does Matthew 19:13 Mean?
Then little children were brought near to him, so that he might lay his hands on them and pray, and the disciples rebuked them.
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
Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.THE KEY
The Greek word for “brought” belongs to a family of words for carrying and bearing: the children are carried toward Jesus, while the disciples’ rebuke interrupts their approach.
THE MEANING
People bring children to Jesus so he can lay hands on them and pray; the disciples meet that movement with rebuke. Care and obstruction occupy the same scene: the children are brought near, but access is not automatic, even beside Jesus.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The assumption that proximity to Jesus makes his followers trustworthy gatekeepers fails here: the disciples themselves rebuke the people bringing children to him.
THE ROOT
προσηνέχθησαν
prosēnechthēsan
GROWS FROM
φερ-
pher-
Carry, bear
English says simply “brought,” but this Greek word belongs to a family built around carrying and bearing. The children’s arrival is framed as something carried toward Jesus, even as the disciples’ rebuke interrupts that movement.
ALSO GROWS
pherō: Carry, bear
φέρω
This basic verb makes the carrying sense beneath “brought” visible.
prospherō: Bring toward, present
προσφέρω
This is the verb behind “brought,” describing movement toward someone or something presented to them.
prosphora: Offering, presentation; something brought near
προσφορά
The related noun preserves the sense of bringing something into another’s presence.
παιδία
paidia
GROWS FROM
παιδ-
paid-
Child; the stem shared by words for children and child-rearing
“little children” in this verse is paidia. English leaves the word-family resemblance hidden: the word for children is related to Greek words for training and upbringing. The scene places children being brought near at the center of a dispute over access.
ALSO GROWS
paidion: Child, little child
παιδίον
This is the singular form of the word used for the children in the verse.
paideuō: Train, educate, discipline
παιδεύω
Its relation to the child-word family connects childhood with formation.
paideia: Upbringing, training, education
παιδεία
This related noun shows how the same family extends from the child to the work of raising and forming one.
THE PATTERN
Those who are most dependent are gathered into care and made visible within God’s work.
From the mouth of little ones and nursing ones you lay a foundation of strength because of those who press you, to halt the enemy and the avenger.He feeds his flock like a shepherd, gathers the lambs in his arm, carries them against his chest, and gently leads the ones who nurse.But when Jesus saw it, he was vexed, and said to them, Let the little children come to me, and do not hold them back, for the governance of God belongs to such as these.THE THREAD
But Jesus said, Let the little children come, and do not hold them back from coming to me, for of such is the governance of the heavens.The same Greek word-family for children, παιδία (paidia), continues into the next verse. There Jesus names the obstruction directly: the children are not to be forbidden from coming to him.
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