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Matthew 10:7 And as you go, preach, saying,
KJV Verse:

Matthew 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

 Greek Verse:

Matthew 10:7 πορευόμενοι δὲ κηρύσσετε λέγοντες ὅτι Ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. 

 Literal Alternative:

Making yourselves go, however, you act as heralds, saying that: It has neared, this realm of the skies.

 Hidden Meaning:

Again, as we have seen in the last several verses, (see Matthew 10:5  and Matthew 10:6) This is not phrased as a command though it is translated that way in the KJV and most other translations. There is also an interesting double meaning here that is hidden in the English because of an untranslated Greek word. There is also an interesting double meaning here that is hidden in the English because of an untranslated Greek word.

 Wordplay:

 The phrase can either describe what is said or why it is said: "that the kingdom of heaven is at hand" or "because the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

 Vocabulary:

πορευόμενοι (part pl pres mp masc nom) "Ye go" is from poreuomai (poreuô) which means "make to go", "carry", "convey", "bring", "go", "march," and "proceed." It is almost always translated as "go" in the NT. --

δὲ (partic) "And" is from de which means "but" and "on the other hand." It is the particle that joins sentences in an adversarial way but can also be a weak connective ("and") and explanation of cause ("so") and a condition ("if").

κηρύσσετε (2nd pl pres ind act) "Preach" is from kerysso, which means "to be a herald", "to summon by a herald", "proclaim", "call upon", "announce", "declare," and "command publicly." Only in the NT is it translated as "preach" or "teach publicly."

λέγοντες (part pl pres act masc nom) "Saying" is from lego, which means "to recount", "to tell over", "to say", "to speak", "to teach", "to mean", "boast of", "tell of", "recite," nominate," and "command." Another Greek word spelled the same means "to pick up", "to choose for oneself", "to pick out," and "to count."

ὅτι (adv/pron/conj) Untranslated is from hoti, which introduces a statement of fact "with regard to the fact that", "seeing that," and acts as a causal adverb meaning "for what", "because", "since," and "wherefore."

Ἤγγικεν (3rd, perf act sg ind) "Is at hand" is from eggizo, which means "to bring near", "to join one things to another," to draw near," and "to approach." This word does not appear in the Perseus ancient Greek dictionary. It comes from an adverb ἐγγύς, eggus, which means 1) (of place) "near", "nigh", "at hand," 2) (of time) "nigh at hand" 3) (of numbers) "nearly", "almost", "coming near," and 4) (of relationship) "akin to."

ἡ (article sg fem nom) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." pl fem gen

βασιλεία (noun sg fem nom) "The kingdom" is from basileia, which means "kingdom", "dominion", "hereditary monarchy", "kingly office," (passive) "being ruled by a king," and "reign." --

τῶν (article pl fem gen)  Untranslated is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."

οὐρανῶν. (noun pl fem gen) "Of Heaven" is from the Greek ouranos, which means "heaven as in the vault of the sky", "heaven as the seat of the gods", "the sky", "the universe," and "the climate."

 The Spoken Version:

“Marching yourselves on, you act as heralds,” the teacher continued, demonstrating by marching through the room. “Saying that, ‘It has come close—the realm of the skies!”
Everyone laughed. They had a lot of practice at the particular chorus.

 Related Verses:

Mat 4:17 Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mat 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep

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About this Site

I started this project over a decade ago. The initial goal was to satisfy my own curiosity about how the original Greek of Jesus's words was translated into English comparing it to my work in translating ancient Chinese. 

This site does not promote any religious point of view about Christianity. I purposely use nonreligious sources for Greek translation.  My goal is simply to identify how Jesus used words. His use of Greek words somewhat unique since his words were spoken, not written.

The range of quality of the articles on this site reflects that it is a personal site, not a commercial one. No one proofreads my work. Some articles are over a decade old when I knew much less ancient Greek. Matthew articles are best since I have updated them all at least once. The ones in Mark are the oldest and poorest. Luke is not yet complete.