What Does Matthew 27:50 Mean?
Jesus, when he had cried out again in a loud voice, released his breath.
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, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.THE KEY
The breath Jesus releases is named with the same Greek word that can also mean wind or spirit, holding these meanings together in one word.
THE MEANING
After the loud cry, Jesus releases the breath. The verse places voice and breath in a single final movement: what leaves the body is named with a word that can also mean wind or spirit.
THE ROOT
πνεῦμα
pneuma
GROWS FROM
πνέω
pneō
to breathe, to blow
“released his breath” in this verse is pneuma. πνεῦμα names breath, and the same word can also be rendered wind or spirit elsewhere; one Greek word holds together what English separates. Here it is the body’s breath being released, so the verse keeps death physical and immediate.
ALSO GROWS
pnoē: breath, blowing, or blast
πνοή
It carries the same breath and blowing sense, making the physical force within πνεῦμα visible.
pneumatikos: of the spirit or breath; spiritual
πνευματικός
This related form shows how the same word family can describe what belongs to breath or spirit.
ἀφῆκε
aphēken
GROWS FROM
ἀφίημι
aphiēmi
to send away, release, or let go
“released his breath” in this verse is aphēken. This verb family also names forgiveness as release: what is held against someone can be let go. Here the same movement is applied to breath, linking bodily release with the release of accusation in the language.
ALSO GROWS
aphesis: release, remission, or forgiveness
ἄφεσις
It shows the same release taking the form of letting go of what is held against someone.
aphienai: to let go, leave, or forgive
ἀφιέναι
This form keeps the verse’s action close to its root sense of release.
THE PATTERN
Life’s breath is received, sustained, and returned.
And the LORD God shaped the ground-being, Adam, from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam became a living soul.And the dust turns back upon the earth as it was, and the breath turns back to God, who gave it.When Jesus had taken the sour wine, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head, and handed over his breath.THE THREAD
And when Jesus had cried out with a great voice, he said, Father, into your hands I set down my breath. And having said this, he breathed out.Matthew names the breath as what Jesus releases; Luke shows him entrusting it into the Father’s hands before he breathes out. Together, the verses hold physical breath and its surrender in the same moment.
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