What Does Matthew 21:46 Mean?
And when they sought to seize him, they feared the crowds, for they hold him as a prophet.
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
But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.THE KEY
They hold him as a prophet in their judgment while seeking to seize him physically; only fear of the crowd checks the seizure.
THE MEANING
You can recognize someone as a truth-teller and still move to control him. Fear of the people watching can restrain your hand even while your judgment names the person a prophet. The verse exposes how recognition and action can split inside you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that recognizing a prophet means honoring the message: here, they regard him as a prophet and still seek to seize him.
THE ROOT
εἶχον
eichon
GROWS FROM
ἔχ- (ech-), from ἔχω (echō)
To have, hold, or keep.
“hold him as a prophet” in this verse is eichon. The Greek verb carries the sense of having or holding him as a prophet. Their recognition sits beside a different verb for their plan: to seize him. The sentence holds regard and coercion together.
ALSO GROWS
katechō: Hold fast, retain.
κατέχω
This branch makes the root’s sense of holding concrete, echoing how they hold him in their judgment as a prophet.
antechō: Hold to, cling to.
ἀντέχω
This branch shows how the same family can describe holding something in one’s regard, even when that regard does not determine one’s actions.
κρατῆσαι
kratēsai
GROWS FROM
κρατ- (krat-), from κρατέω (krateō)
To grasp or hold firmly; by extension, to exert strength or power.
The Greek verb means to take hold of or seize him. The KJV’s phrase preserves the bodily force of the intent: their recognition of him as a prophet does not remove their desire to capture him.
ALSO GROWS
kratos: Strength, might, power.
κράτος
This branch shows the force carried by the root behind their intended seizure.
krataios: Strong, mighty.
κραταιός
This branch shares the root’s sense of strength, coloring their intended grasp as an exercise of force.
ἐφοβήθησαν
ephobēthēsan
GROWS FROM
φοβ- (phob-), from φοβέομαι (phobeomai)
To fear, dread, or be alarmed.
“feared” in this verse is ephobēthēsan. Fear is the force that restrains their intended seizure. Their hands stop because of the crowd’s power over them, while their judgment of the prophet remains unchanged.
ALSO GROWS
phobos: Fear, alarm.
φόβος
This noun names the alarm that governs their response to the crowd.
phoberos: Fearsome, causing fear.
φοβερός
This branch shows the other side of the same root: the crowd is feared because its response carries a consequence for them.
THE PATTERN
Fear of public reaction can restrain an action without changing the judgment or intent behind it.
And when he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, for they held him as a prophet.Even so, many among the rulers also leaned their weight on him, but because of the separated ones they did not confess him, lest they be thrown out of the gathering.The trembling of man sets a snare, but the one who leans his full weight on the LORD is set on high.THE THREAD
And when he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, for they held him as a prophet.The wording closely echoes this verse: in both, hostile intent is checked by fear of a crowd that regards the target as a prophet. The repeated structure shows restraint through public calculation while the intent remains.
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