What Does 1 John 5:14 Mean?
And this is the open speech we hold toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
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 confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:THE KEY
The confidence named here is freedom to speak openly, with the request measured by God’s will.
THE MEANING
You can speak openly to God, and the verse says he hears you when your asking is according to his will. Confidence rests in that open relationship, with the request held within his will.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This dissolves the belief that God is unreachable or does not hear you; the verse places confidence in him and says he hears the asking shaped by his will.
THE ROOT
παρρησία
parrēsia
GROWS FROM
παρρησ-
parrēs-
Open, frank speech; the word carries the sense of speaking without concealment or restraint.
“open speech” in this verse is parrēsia. παρρησία (parrēsia, open confidence) can name both boldness and freedom of speech. It presents confidence as an unhidden voice, not merely certainty about an outcome.
ALSO GROWS
parrēsiazomai: to speak freely or boldly
παρρησιάζομαι
This verb from the same word family shows confidence taking the form of open speech.
pas: all, every
πᾶς
This is one component traditionally identified in the compound, suggesting speech without reserve.
rhēsis: speech, utterance
ῥῆσις
This is the speech element traditionally identified in the compound, connecting confidence with what can be said openly.
αἰτώμεθα
aitōmetha
GROWS FROM
αἰτε-
aite-
To ask or request.
“ask” in this verse is aitōmetha. The Greek word names a request rather than a demand. The verse places that request within God’s will, so asking is framed by relationship rather than control.
ALSO GROWS
aitēma: a request, something asked for
αἴτημα
This noun makes clear that the asking concerns a specific request.
aitēsis: a petition, an act of asking
αἴτησις
This related noun emphasizes the act of making a request, keeping the focus on open asking.
ἀκούει
akouei
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
akou-
To hear or listen.
The English “heareth” can sound like bare sound detection, while this Greek word carries the sense of hearing or listening. Its wider word family can extend hearing toward heeding, though this verse specifically says that God hears the request.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: hearing, or a report heard
ἀκοή
This related noun connects hearing with what is received and conveyed.
hypakouō: to heed or obey; literally, to hear under
ὑπακούω
This compound shows how hearing can extend toward heeding, without making that extended sense the claim of this verse.
THE PATTERN
Asking is received within alignment: what is asked is shaped by relationship and desire, not detached from them.
He does the delight of those in awe of him; he hears and responds to their outcry, and delivers them.If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you.You ask, and do not take, because you ask badly, so that you may use it up upon your pleasures.THE THREAD
Beloved, if our heart does not know against us, we have open speech toward God.Both verses use παρρησία (parrēsia, open confidence), the same Greek word behind “confidence.” Here that openness takes the form of asking according to God’s will; the connected verse places it alongside a heart free from condemnation.
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