What Does 1 John 2:20 Mean?
But you have an anointing from the Set-Apart One, and you know all things.
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
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.THE KEY
The word behind “unction” shares its Greek root with “Christ,” so the verse frames this knowing as an anointing received from the Holy One.
THE MEANING
You have an anointing from the One set apart, and the verse places knowing alongside what you have received. Here, that knowing is discernment of truth from the lie, not possession of every fact. What comes from the Holy One is already present among you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that discernment can only come from an outside authority: the verse says you already have an anointing from the Holy One and know.
THE ROOT
χρῖσμα
chrisma
GROWS FROM
χρίω (chriō), verbal stem χρι-
To anoint; to rub or apply oil.
The Greek word χρῖσμα (chrisma), “anointing,” shares its root with Χριστός (Christos), “anointed one.” English separates the two words, while Greek lets the verse’s received anointing echo the name of the Anointed One.
ALSO GROWS
chriō: To anoint.
χρίω
This is the verb behind χρῖσμα, naming the action from which the anointing takes its name.
Christos: Anointed one.
Χριστός
The shared root links the anointing received here with the title “Anointed One.”
οἴδατε
oidate
GROWS FROM
εἴδω (eidō), stem εἰδ-
To see or perceive; the related perfect form οἶδα (oida) means to know, to have seen.
The Greek οἴδατε (oidate), “you know,” belongs to the εἴδω (eidō), “see,” word family. English leaves that seeing beneath “know,” while the verse places this knowing alongside an anointing received from the Holy One.
ALSO GROWS
oida: To know; to have seen.
οἶδα
This is the lexical form behind οἴδατε, the verse’s “ye know.”
eidos: Form or appearance.
εἶδος
From the same word family, it names what is seen or perceived.
ἁγίου
hagiou
GROWS FROM
ἅγιος (hagios), stem ἁγι-
Set apart; sacred.
“Set-Apart One” in this verse is hagiou. The source is named with ἅγιος (hagios), “set apart.” The anointing and the knowing are both traced to the One set apart, making their source part of the verse’s claim.
ALSO GROWS
hagiazō: To set apart; to consecrate.
ἁγιάζω
The verb shows the same root as an act of setting apart.
hagiasmos: Setting apart; consecration.
ἁγιασμός
This noun carries the root’s sense of being set apart into a process or state.
THE PATTERN
What comes from the Holy One is received as anointing, then expressed through discernment and action.
The breath of the Lord LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the bowed ones; he has sent me to bind up the broken of heart, to proclaim flowing freedom to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are chained.How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Set-Apart Breath and with power, who went through, doing good and healing all who were pressed down by the Slanderer, for God was with him.But the anointing you have received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. As the same anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is no lie, you will remain in him, even as it has taught you.THE THREAD
But the anointing you have received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. As the same anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is no lie, you will remain in him, even as it has taught you.The word translated “anointing” in both verses is χρῖσμα (chrisma), “anointing,” from χρίω (chriō), “to anoint”, the same word family as Χριστός (Christos), “anointed one.” Here the anointing is said to abide and teach, opening “ye know all things” as knowing that grows from what has been received.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us