Real Bible Translation - Matthew 22:10

And the Born-Bondmen, those ones who have come into the Roads, they led together all whomever they found, both pain-ridden ones and good ones, and the Wedding was filled up of those who are being dedicated.^41b

Julia Smith Literal 1876 Translation:
And those servants, having come to the ways, gathered together all, as many as they found, also both the evil and good, and the nuptial feast was filled with the reclining.

LITV Translation:
And going out into the highways, those slaves gathered all, as many as they found, both evil and good. And the wedding feast was filled with reclining guests.

Footnotes

41b

Mat 22:10

The verb ἀνάκειμαι (anakeimai) is formally the perfect middle-passive of ἀνατίθημι (“to set up,” “to dedicate,” “to lay upon”). In its earliest attestations—especially in Herodotus (1.14; 2.135)—it denotes an object set up or deposited as a votive offering within a sanctuary: “six golden mixing-bowls are laid up (ἀνακέαται) in the temple.” This use establishes the primary cultic nuance of the term, referring not to ordinary placement but to ritual dedication, implying transfer from common to sacred possession.

The semantic field extends into metaphorical uses, such as Pindar (Olymp. 10.8), where praise (αἶνος) is said to be “laid up” (ἄγκειται) for the Olympic victors, and Plato (Symp. 197e), where a discourse (λόγος) is “dedicated to the god.” Thus, the idea evolves from physical deposition in a shrine to figurative “consecration” or “reservation” in honor or memory.

Further, in Lysias (10.28) and Lycurgus (51), the verb is used of public statues “set up” (ἀνάκειται) as monuments—a civic analogue of temple dedication. Later authors like Josephus (AJ 17.6.5) employ it juridically or administratively: penalties “laid up” for offenders, famine “reserved” for shamelessness, etc., extending the semantic scope to “set apart,” “reserved,” or “appointed.”

Hence, ἀνάκειμαι carries the core notion of withdrawal from common use and permanent placement in a state of consecration or reservation. The meaning “to recline” (as at table, e.g., Matt 9:10) is secondary and metaphorically derived from the idea of “being laid out” or “set in place,” probably via Hellenistic resemanticization.

Translating ἀνάκειμαι as “to be dedicated,” “laid up,” or “reserved” thus reflects the original passive sense of ἀνατίθημι, rather than the later idiomatic sense of “to recline.” Context determines whether the reference is cultic, juridical, or social, but in all cases the underlying imagery is of something set apart and fixed in position, either literally or figuratively.

(cf. LSJ ἀνάκειμαι)