What Does John 1:15 Mean?
John bore witness of him and cried out, saying, "This was the one of whom I spoke. The one who comes behind me has come to be ahead of me, for he was first before me."
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
John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.THE KEY
The one who appears after John is already first, because his true priority precedes his visible arrival.
THE MEANING
Jesus comes after John in the visible story, yet stands before him in being; John’s witness names that priority. The verse speaks now: what enters your sight later can already precede the story you know.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Visible order determines true priority: whoever appears later must be lesser and must have begun later.
THE ROOT
πρῶτος
prōtos
GROWS FROM
πρωτ-
prōt-
first, foremost
“first before me” in this verse is prōtos. The Greek word πρῶτος (prōtos, first or foremost) lets “preferred before me” carry the weight of precedence. The verse holds two orders together: the one coming after John stands first because he already is before him.
ALSO GROWS
prōtótokos: firstborn
πρωτότοκος
It carries the same firstness into birth order, echoing the verse’s contrast between visible arrival and prior standing.
prōteúō: to hold first place, be preeminent
πρωτεύω
It shows how the root extends from being first in sequence to occupying the foremost place.
γέγονεν
gégonen
GROWS FROM
γίνομαι
gínomai
to become, come to be, happen
“has come to be ahead of me” in this verse is gégonen. The wording γέγονεν (gégonen, has come to be) gives “is preferred before me” the sense of having come to stand ahead. The following clause grounds that standing in an earlier reality: he is first before John.
ALSO GROWS
génesis: birth, origin, coming into being
γένεσις
It brings the root’s sense of coming into being close to the verse’s claim about what precedes visible arrival.
génos: kind, family, lineage
γένος
It carries the same root into origin and lineage, fitting the verse’s concern with what comes before a person’s appearance.
μαρτυρέω
martyreō
GROWS FROM
μαρτυρ-
martyr-
to testify, bear witness
“bare witness” in this verse is martyreō. John’s witness gives voice to a priority that does not come from John himself. The word’s family keeps the act of testifying joined to the testimony it leaves behind.
ALSO GROWS
mártys: witness
μάρτυς
The witness is the person who bears the testimony John voices here.
martyría: testimony, witness
μαρτυρία
It names the testimony carried by John’s public declaration.
THE PATTERN
Visible arrival order does not determine true priority; the one who appears later can already be first.
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the clans of Judah, from you he will come out to me, to be ruler in Israel. His goings out are from ancient days, from the days of the ages.Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.And he is before all things, and in him all things stand together.THE THREAD
This is he of whom I said, A man comes behind me who has come to stand in front of me, for he was first before me.The same statement returns with πρῶτος (prōtos, first or foremost) and γέγονεν (gégonen, has come to be), keeping visible arrival and prior standing in view together. Its repetition makes John’s witness a clear naming of the same priority.
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