What Does 1 John 2:17 Mean?
And the world is passing away, and its craving with it, but the one who does the will of God remains for the ages.
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
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.THE KEY
The world’s desire is already passing, while the one who does God’s will remains into the age.
THE MEANING
The world around you and the desire it offers are passing even now; their pull does not make them permanent. The one who does God’s will remains into the age, living in what outlasts the passing order.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what feels powerful or desirable now must last. The verse places the world’s desire in motion toward passing, while the one who does God’s will remains.
THE ROOT
εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα
eis ton aiōna
GROWS FROM
αἰών
aiōn
Age; a span or era of time.
“for the ages” in this verse is eis ton aiōna. The phrase gives abiding the shape of continuing into the age: the one doing God’s will remains εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (eis ton aiōna, into the age). This opens the KJV’s “for ever” onto the Greek image of enduring into the age.
ALSO GROWS
aiōnios: Of the age; age-long.
αἰώνιος
This related word keeps the age-shaped sense of αἰών visible in descriptions of duration.
aiōnes: Ages.
αἰῶνες
The plural makes the language of successive ages explicit, echoing the verse’s movement into the age.
παράγεται
paragetai
GROWS FROM
ἄγω
agō
To lead, bring, or carry.
“is passing away” in this verse is paragetai. The form παράγεται (paragetai) is present: the world is passing by now. Its compound carries the sense of going past, showing the world and its desire already in motion toward passing.
ALSO GROWS
agō: Lead, bring, carry.
ἄγω
This is the root beneath the verse’s word for passing, giving the movement a sense of being carried along.
paragō: Pass by, go past.
παράγω
This related form makes clear that the verse describes the world as passing by in the present.
μένει
menei
GROWS FROM
μένω
menō
Remain, stay, continue.
“remains” in this verse is menei. The one doing God’s will does not merely survive the world’s passing; this verb carries the sense of staying. Its word family also names a dwelling, opening abiding as a continuing place of presence.
ALSO GROWS
monē: Dwelling place, residence.
μονή
This related noun lets “abideth” carry the feeling of a settled dwelling, not just lasting through time.
diamenō: Continue, remain.
διαμένω
The compound keeps the same root of staying and continuing, reinforcing the contrast with what passes.
THE PATTERN
The present world is already passing, while a life enacted in God’s will continues into the age.
The grass dries, the flower withers, but the word of our God stands for the ages.Heaven and earth pass by, but my words do not pass by.And those who use this world as those who do not use it up, for the shape of this world is passing by.THE THREAD
Again, I write to you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light now shines.This verse uses παράγεται (paragetai) for darkness, the same verb used here for the world and its desire. In both verses, the passing is underway now, set beside what remains.
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