What Does Matthew 20:21 Mean?
And he said to her, What do you want? She said to him, Say that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your governance.
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 he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.THE KEY
The request rendered “Grant” also asks Jesus to say the seating into place, making his authority part of the desired honor.
THE MEANING
The question still makes desire visible: closeness to authority appears as a place beside it, and honor as something a ruler can authorize. Jesus’ opening question, “What wilt thou?”, brings the wish itself into the open before the seats are addressed.
THE ROOT
εἰπέ
eipe
GROWS FROM
λέγω (legō), λεγ- (leg-)
to say or speak
Εἰπέ is an imperative form of λέγω, “say.” So the request rendered “Grant” also asks Jesus to speak the arrangement; the wording brings his authority into the desired seating.
ALSO GROWS
legō: say, speak
λέγω
This is the verb behind εἰπέ, showing that the request includes a spoken authorization.
logos: word, statement
λόγος
This related word makes the link between speech and the declared arrangement visible.
βασιλεία
basileia
GROWS FROM
βασιλ- (basil-), βασιλεύς (basileus)
kingship, royal rule
“governance” in this verse is basileia. The root points to a ruler’s active reign as well as the realm under it. The requested seats are positions within the order of his rule.
ALSO GROWS
basileus: king, ruler
βασιλεύς
The kingdom is named in relation to the one who rules it.
basileuō: reign, rule as king
βασιλεύω
This verb makes the active governance inside βασιλεία clear.
THE PATTERN
A seat at a ruler’s right or left marks privileged nearness within that ruler’s order.
So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her, and settled on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king's mother, and she settled at his right hand.A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I set your enemies as a footstool for your feet.They said to him, Give us that we may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left hand, in your weight.THE THREAD
And he said to them, You will indeed drink my cup, and be immersed in the immersion I am immersed in. But to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but it will be given to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.The verb “sit” repeats the same Greek root as the request, καθίσωσιν and καθίσαι. Jesus’ answer opens the request further: these places are not his to assign by declaration; they are given according to what the Father has prepared.
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