Aramaic Word Study – Much – Sagi – Samek Gimmel Yod

Luke 12:48: “But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”

I often hear this verse in sermons and my thought is that this is referring to wealth and material things or to gifts and abilities.  If someone has a gift of music more is expected from them musically than someone who is not so gifted.  There is no question as to the truth of this but that is really not the context here.  The context seems to be a suggestion of knowledge of God and what is holy or sacred to God. 

My brother was a missionary to Papua New Guinea where he went into the jungle and lived with the people in a village isolated from the outside world. There he told them about God and translated the Bible into their language. One day as he was relaxing and talking with one of the villagers, this villager suddenly said; “You know, Andy, long before you came to our village I looked up in the sky and prayed to your God that He would send someone to teach us about Him and then you came.”  

This villager had no contact with the outside world prior to my brother coming into that village. The only knowledge He had of God is what was revealed to him through God’s creation.  He saw the orderliness of the universe in the stars, the rising and setting of the sun. He saw the tender loving care a mother gave to her young, the nurturing of the mother bird for her young and in that God revealed to him that He not only existed but that he was a loving and compassionate God who gave order to the world.  With that little bit of knowledge, he prayed to this God to send him more knowledge. 

Now my brother was raised in a Christian home in the United States which was a Christian nation. He grew up in the church and went to Bible College and became a missionary. He had a greater revelation of God and hence a greater responsibility and obligation to use that knowledge.  So, he became a missionary to spread that knowledge. My brother was given “much” knowledge and hence much more was and is expected from Him by God. 

In the Aramaic, there is something interesting in this verse.  The word “much” is repeated two times. In Semitic languages when a word is repeated twice it is to show emphasis. This could be read as “To him that is given much, much is expected.”   We could also say much more is expected.”

The word much is sagi, which is a word used for making progress or walking. It also means to spread, multiply or become numerous. God doesn’t just expect us to accumulate knowledge, but to spread that knowledge. The more knowledge we have of God the greater our obligation to share that knowledge.  Not only to share it but to use it as well. 

I recall when I was a pastor I was asked by a woman in my congregation to stop by her house as she was sharing the Gospel with her neighbor who wanted to accept the Lord but just could not do it.  As we talked with her about the Lord, it became apparent that she did not want to accept the Lord as she was living with her boyfriend who was not a Christian and they were not married.  She felt she had to give up her boyfriend and that relationship to become a Christian. I basically told her how she was living between her and God and that for right now the only decision to make was to choose God or not.  If she chose God then giving up her boyfriend would be between her and God and if wanted her to break off the relationship, God would make it apparent and make a way for the relationship to end and He would meet whatever need she was seeking to fulfill in that relationship. The choice was not between her boyfriend and God it was whether to bring God into her life and let God make a way that would be holy unto Him.

She acted on the knowledge she had and brought God into her life. She almost instantly gained more knowledge that she shared with her boyfriend and two days later that boyfriend was at my door and wanted to bring God not only into his life but his son’s life as well. I also performed their wedding a couple of months later. 

God is continually bringing knowledge to us and as we receive that knowledge we must continue to make choices with that knowledge. In a way the more knowledge we receive the more choices we will have to make but then again, the easier it will become to make those choices.

Hi there! Thank you for reading this Daily Word Study. Can I ask a favor? Share this Daily Word Study with your friends on Facebook and Twitter by clicking one of the icons below.

Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!