What Does Matthew 26:18 Mean?
And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say to him, The Teacher says, My time is at hand; I will make the Passover at your house with my disciples.
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, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.THE KEY
The approaching hour takes the form of a Passover meal in a house, with learners gathered around the Master.
THE MEANING
The hour is near, and its nearness meets the reader in a concrete place: a house, a meal, and learners gathered with the Master. A decisive moment takes shape through a shared Passover, held in the ordinary space of a home.
THE ROOT
ποιῶ
poiō
GROWS FROM
ποι-
ποι- (poi-): do, make, perform
The Greek verb translated “keep” is ποιῶ (poiō, “I do/make”), used with Passover. Its family includes ποιητής (poiētēs, “maker/doer”) and ποίημα (poiēma, “work/thing made”), so the root presents the observance as an act carried out together in the house.
ALSO GROWS
poiētēs: maker, doer
ποιητής
It shares the ποι- root and names one who does or makes, echoing the active verb used for the Passover.
poiēma: work, thing made
ποίημα
It shares the ποι- root and shows how the act of doing can also name what that act brings about.
μαθητῶν
mathētōn
GROWS FROM
μαθη-
μαθη- (mathē-): learn, be taught
The Greek word μαθητῶν (mathētōn, “disciples”) belongs to the μαθη- (mathē-) learning family. Those at the meal are learners gathered with their teacher, so the Passover is shared in a company shaped by learning.
ALSO GROWS
mathētēs: learner, disciple
μαθητής
It shares the μαθη- root and names the kind of person gathered with the Master.
mathēma: lesson, what is learned
μάθημα
It shares the μαθη- root and links the learners at the meal with the knowledge they receive.
THE PATTERN
A turning point becomes tangible when a household gathers around food that sustains life.
Speak to all the assembly of Israel, saying, “On the tenth day of this month each man will take for himself a lamb according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for each house.”And she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she, and he, and her house, ate for many days.And they, holding fast day by day with one passion in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, took their food with gladness and singleness of heart.THE THREAD
And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.Matthew’s ποιῶ (poiō, “do/make”) and Paul’s ποιεῖτε (poieite, “do”) share the root ποι- in ποιέω (poiéō, “do/make”). The shared verb links the Passover at a home with a meal of remembrance: meaning is carried forward through an act done together.
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