What Does Matthew 27:15 Mean?
Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release one prisoner for the crowd, whichever one they wished.
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
Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would.THE KEY
Freedom here is a public choice: the governor releases the prisoner the crowd wants without declaring him innocent.
THE MEANING
The governor holds the power to release one prisoner, while the crowd determines whom it wants freed. Release changes the person’s custody; this verse does not say that it proves innocence or justice.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being released does not necessarily mean being judged innocent, just as being bound does not by itself tell you who deserves freedom.
THE ROOT
ἀπολύειν
apolyein
GROWS FROM
λύω
lyō
to loosen or unbind
The Greek verb for release is built on λύω (lyō), “to loosen”: release is pictured as unbinding, not as a verdict of innocence. Here, that loosening is a power the governor exercises according to the crowd’s desire.
ALSO GROWS
lyō: to loosen, unbind, or release
λύω
This is the root beneath the verse’s word for releasing the prisoner.
lytron: ransom, the price paid to release someone
λύτρον
This branch carries the same release-root into the idea of a price attached to freedom.
δέσμιον
desmion
GROWS FROM
δέω
deō
to bind or tie
The Greek calls the prisoner a “bound one” (δέσμιος, desmios), while the release is a loosening (λύω, lyō). The sentence holds binding and unbinding in direct counterpoint, yet leaves the crowd’s choice unjudged.
ALSO GROWS
deō: to bind or tie
δέω
This verb is the root of the word describing the person held in custody.
desmos: a bond or chain
δεσμός
The prisoner’s word belongs to the same family as the bonds that hold someone.
desmōtērion: a prison or place of confinement
δεσμωτήριον
The same binding-family names the place where a bound person is kept.
THE PATTERN
Whoever controls the release of the bound shapes when freedom is granted.
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told the Great House, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may dance a feast to me in the wilderness.He also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, so that he might untie him; therefore he sent after him more often, and kept company with him.So if the Son sets you free, you will be truly free.THE THREAD
He also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, so that he might untie him; therefore he sent after him more often, and kept company with him.Acts uses λύω (lyō), “loosen,” the same root carried inside Matthew’s ἀπολύω (apolýō), “release.” There, the prospect of a prisoner’s release is entangled with hoped-for money, making visible how an unbinding can be controlled or bargained over.
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