What Does Matthew 20:30 Mean?
And look, two blind men sitting beside the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, Show us faithful love, O Lord, Son of David.
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, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.THE KEY
The men who cannot see Jesus recognize him by what they hear, and their cry for mercy names who they believe is passing by.
THE MEANING
When what is happening cannot be seen, hearing still makes recognition possible. The cry is specific: it names Jesus as Lord and Son of David and asks for mercy. Need here speaks with recognition.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that lack of sight means lack of recognition: the men cannot see Jesus, yet they name him as Lord and Son of David.
THE ROOT
ἐλέησον
eleēson
GROWS FROM
ἐλεε-
to show mercy
“show faithful love” in this verse is eleēson. The plea ἐλέησον (eleēson) belongs to the Greek ἐλεέω (eleeō) family: asking for mercy is asking for it to be shown. English can make “mercy” sound like an attitude alone; the Greek word also holds the act of responding mercifully.
ALSO GROWS
eleos: mercy
ἔλεος
This noun names the mercy the men ask to have shown.
eleēmōn: merciful
ἐλεήμων
This related word describes one who acts with mercy, keeping the request connected to a merciful response.
eleēmosynē: an act of mercy; almsgiving
ἐλεημοσύνη
This branch shows mercy expressed in an act toward someone in need.
κύριε
kyrie
GROWS FROM
κυρι-
lordship, authority
“Lord” in this verse is kyrie. The men address Jesus with a word from the κύρι- family, which also forms words for ruling and lordship. Their cry is both a request for mercy and an address that recognizes authority.
ALSO GROWS
kyrios: lord, master
κύριος
This is the nominative form of the title they speak directly to Jesus.
kyrieuō: rule over, exercise lordship
κυριεύω
The verb makes the authority within their address visible.
kyriotēs: lordship, dominion
κυριότης
This noun names the domain of authority carried by the same Greek word family.
דָּוִד
Dāwīd
GROWS FROM
דּוֹד
beloved; beloved kin
The Hebrew name David is connected with דּוֹד (dod), beloved. In “Son of David,” the name carries a resonance of belovedness alongside the identity the men confess.
ALSO GROWS
dodi: my beloved
דּוֹדִי
This form shares the root and makes its intimate sense plain.
dodim: loves; beloved ones
דּוֹדִים
This plural branch carries the root’s association with love and belovedness into the name David.
THE PATTERN
When distress is voiced, hidden need becomes an appeal for mercy or deliverance.
And in those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel groaned from the labor, and they cried out, and their outcry rose up to God from the labor. And God heard and responded to their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.This bowed one cries out, and the LORD hears him, and brings him out of all his narrow places.And the tax collector, standing far off, would not so much as lift his eyes toward the heavens, but struck his breast, saying, God, cover me, the one who misses the mark.THE THREAD
And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying out and saying, Show us faithful love, Son of David.Matthew 9:27 repeats the same Greek plea, ἐλέησον (eleēson, show mercy), from the ἐλεέω (eleeō) family. The shared root makes the cry for mercy a repeated line of recognition: the speakers name Jesus as Son of David as they ask him to act mercifully.
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