What Does 1 John 5:11 Mean?
And this is the witness, that God has given us the life of the ages, and this life is in his Son.
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 this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.THE KEY
The life of the ages is already given, and its source is the Son, not a reward deferred to the future.
THE MEANING
God has given this life to us, and it is present in the Son. The verse describes life as a gift already received, rooted in him now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that life of the ages is only a future possession: the verse says God has already given it.
THE ROOT
αἰώνιον
aiōnion
GROWS FROM
αἰών
aiōn
Age, or an order of time.
“the life of the ages” in this verse is aiōnion. English “eternal” can make the phrase sound only like endless duration. The Greek word carries the sense of life belonging to the age or ages, and this verse says that life is already given.
ALSO GROWS
age: An age or span of time.
αἰών
It shows the time sense carried within “eternal.”
aiōnios: Belonging to an age; age-long.
αἰώνιος
This is the word used for the life God gives here.
ζωή
zōē
GROWS FROM
ζάω
zaō
To live.
The Greek word points to living, not merely continued existence. The verse presents this life as something given and located in the Son, a reality received now.
ALSO GROWS
living: Alive; living.
ζῶν
It echoes life as an active state, not merely a future duration.
make alive: To make alive or give life.
ζωοποιέω
This related form makes explicit the life-giving movement implicit in the gift.
ἔδωκεν
edōken
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι (didōmi; δο-/δω-)
To give.
“has given” in this verse is edōken. The verb names an act of giving: the life in view is received from God. Its placement beside “in his Son” ties the gift to a living source rather than to the reader’s achievement.
ALSO GROWS
share: To give a share or impart.
μεταδίδωμι
It shows giving as something passed on to another.
paradidōmi: To hand over or deliver.
παραδίδωμι
It uses the same giving verb in a compound, making visible the root’s movement from one to another.
THE PATTERN
Life of the ages is given as a present reality and found in the Son.
Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever hears and responds to my word, and leans his full weight on him who sent me, has the life of the ages, and does not come under the judgment, but has crossed over from death into life.For the pay of falling short is death, but the gift of God is the life of the ages in Jesus, the Anointed One, our Lord.The one who holds the Son holds the life; the one who does not hold the Son of God does not hold the life.THE THREAD
And this is the life of the ages, that they might know you, the only God of truth, and Jesus, the Anointed One, whom you have sent.John 17:3 uses the same Greek words for “life” and “eternal,” joining ζωή (zōē, life) with αἰώνιος (aiōnios, of the age). It opens the phrase further by describing this life through knowing God and Jesus, rather than duration alone.
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