What Does Matthew 22:29 Mean?
Jesus answered and said to them, You wander, not perceiving the writings, nor the power of God.
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
Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.THE KEY
Scripture is misread when God’s ability is measured by human limits.
THE MEANING
Familiar words can be read while their meaning remains unseen, and understanding can wander when the reader assumes God cannot do what seems impossible. This verse holds Scripture and God’s power together: what God can do changes what the words can mean.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that quoting Scripture guarantees a faithful reading, even when that reading assumes God cannot act beyond human expectations.
THE ROOT
πλανᾶσθε
planasthe
GROWS FROM
πλαν- (plan-), from πλανάω (planaō)
To wander or lead astray.
“wander” in this verse is planasthe. The word pictures understanding going off course, not merely making one isolated factual mistake. The same Greek word family can describe both wandering and deception, linking an error within the mind to being led astray.
ALSO GROWS
planē: Wandering, error, or delusion.
πλάνη
It shows that error can be a path understanding has wandered onto.
planos: A deceiver; one who leads astray.
πλάνος
It shares the same root and links being mistaken with being misled.
δύναμιν
dynamin
GROWS FROM
δυναμ- (dynam-), from δύναμαι (dynamai)
To be able; to have capacity.
“power” in this verse is dynamin. The word points to what God is able to do, not only to an abstract force. The verse makes that capacity part of understanding Scripture: a reading can go astray when it rules out what God can bring about.
ALSO GROWS
dynamai: To be able; to have power or capacity.
δύναμαι
This verb makes the link between power and ability explicit.
dynatos: Able, possible, or mighty.
δυνατός
This related word brings possibility into the same family as power.
εἰδότες
eidotes
GROWS FROM
οἶδα
oida
To know, recognize, or perceive; historically, the verb’s form is connected with having seen.
“not perceiving” in this verse is eidotes. The word reaches beyond possessing information to recognizing what is before you. The verse describes understanding that has the words but has not truly perceived what they reveal about God.
ALSO GROWS
eidon: I saw; to see or perceive.
εἶδον
This form from the same verb family reveals the link between seeing and knowing.
eidenai: To know; to have perceived.
εἰδέναι
This infinitive form keeps the sense of knowledge joined to perception.
THE PATTERN
God’s word is misread when human impossibility is treated as the limit of what God can do.
Is any word too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will turn back to you, at this season of life, and Sarah will have a son.Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great strength and outstretched arm, and nothing is too hard for you.For with God nothing will be impossible.THE THREAD
Jesus answered and said to them, Watch that no one leads you off the path.The Greek word πλανήσῃ (planēsē, “deceive” or “lead astray”) comes from πλανάω (planaō), the same verb family behind “err” in this verse. English separates error from deception, while the shared root places both on the path of being led off course.
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