What Does Matthew 20:33 Mean?
They said to him, Lord, let our eyes be opened.
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
They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.THE KEY
Here, sight is not a feat the eyes perform: they are the ones asking to be opened.
THE MEANING
The verse gives you a sentence for the moment when seeing is beyond your reach: “that our eyes may be opened.” The request addresses the Lord and leaves the opening as something received. Wanting to see and seeing are not collapsed into one.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It loosens the belief that clarity has to be manufactured by your own effort: here, the eyes are opened; they do not open themselves.
THE ROOT
ἀνοιγῶσιν
anoigōsin
GROWS FROM
ἀνοιγ- (the stem of ἀνοίγω)
To open; to make an opening or access.
“let our eyes be opened” in this verse is anoigōsin. This is a passive form of ἀνοίγω (anoigō, open): the eyes are grammatically the ones receiving the opening. In this Greek word family, opening can describe eyes, hearts, and understanding, extending the image beyond eyesight to access for perception.
ALSO GROWS
anoigēsetai: A future passive form of ἀνοίγω, meaning “will be opened.”
ἀνοιγήσεται
In Matthew 7:7, “it shall be opened unto you” uses this form, again presenting opening as something received.
dianoigō: A compound verb meaning “open through” or “open fully.”
διανοίγω
In Luke 24:31, a form of this verb describes eyes being opened, carrying the same opening image into perception.
THE PATTERN
What is closed receives an opening from beyond itself; the text places the opening with the LORD rather than with the closed faculty.
Then the eyes of the blind open, and the ears of the deaf open.And their eyes were thrown open, and they recognized him, and he became unseen to them.And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who stood in awe of God, listened to us. The Lord opened her heart wide, and she held fast to the things Paul spoke.THE THREAD
And their eyes were thrown open, and they recognized him, and he became unseen to them.Luke uses διηνοίχθησαν (diēnoichthēsan, “were opened”), a form of διανοίγω (dianoigō, “open through”), built on the same opening stem as Matthew’s ἀνοίγω (anoigō, “open”). The same opening reaches the eyes again, making perception something received.
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