Matthew 11:12

וּמִימֵי יוֹחָנָן הַמְטַבֵּל עַד־הֵנָּה מַלְכוּת הַשָּׁמַיִם	and from the days of Jochanan the Baptist till now the kingdom of heaven
נִתְפְּשָׂה בְחָזְקָה וּזְרֹעֵי־כֹחַ יַחֲזִיקוּ בָהּ	is spread by seizure and seeds of power seize her

Spread is not what I would expect.

You Greek folks - help me with this. What is this verse doing in the discussion about John who Immerses? John has grace in his name.

Here's the Greek

ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ἕως ἄρτι ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν βιάζεται καὶ βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν αὐτήν

for since the days of John the Baptist till now, the kingdom of heaven is forced and forces seize it

What could this mean - it is such a short period of time - JB till 'now'? How does this relate to violence (trad. translation)?  The reason I ask is that this word in the NT does not appear in the LXX in Psalm 140

מֵאִישׁ חֲמָסִים תִּנְצְרֵנִי

from violent persons preserve me

ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς ἀδίκου ῥῦσαί με

There are so many ways in which we subject ourselves or others to violence - why this wording for the kingdom of heaven? Modern Greek seems to render the word ἀδίκω as 'at fault'.


Now for a moment, I am not just reading but thinking about meaning. Is there such a thing?