What Does John 1:23 Mean?
He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, straighten the way of the LORD, as the prophet Isaiah said."
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
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.THE KEY
The voice does not create the way; it sets its course.
THE MEANING
Even in a wilderness, the Lord’s way can be made clear. The voice names a course through the open, unmarked place, so what sounds like a cry becomes direction the reader can recognize now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The wilderness does not mean there is no way forward; the way can be cleared and directed there.
THE ROOT
εὐθύνατε
euthynate
GROWS FROM
εὐθύνω
euthynō
To make straight, direct, or steer.
“straighten” in this verse is euthynate. The Greek verb here is also used for the person steering a ship. “Make straight” carries the sense of setting a course: the voice points through the wilderness toward the Lord’s way.
ALSO GROWS
euthys: Straight, direct.
εὐθύς
The related word makes the direction in “make straight” explicit: the way is brought into a direct course.
euthynōn: Steering or directing; translated “governor” in James 3:4.
εὐθύνων
This is the same verb in a ship’s image: a small helm directs a vessel’s course, just as the voice points the way.
ὁδός
hodos
GROWS FROM
ὁδός
hodos
A road, route, or course.
The Greek word holds both a physical road and a course of movement. The verse speaks of a way that can be followed through wilderness, not simply an idea about direction.
ALSO GROWS
exodos: A way out; a departure or exit.
ἔξοδος
This compound preserves hodos, “way,” in the movement out of a place.
methodos: A pursuit or course of inquiry; the source of “method.”
μέθοδος
The same word for way lives in a word for a course pursued, keeping movement inside the idea of a path.
THE PATTERN
A way becomes navigable when its direction is made clear and its course is set.
A voice calls out in the wilderness, Clear the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a raised road for our God.In all your ways, perceive him, and he straightens your paths.Look also at the ships, which, though they are so large and driven by hard winds, are turned by a very small rudder, wherever the one who keeps the course straight wills.THE THREAD
Look also at the ships, which, though they are so large and driven by hard winds, are turned by a very small rudder, wherever the one who keeps the course straight wills.“Make straight” uses the same Greek verb that describes the one steering a ship. James shows the image in motion: a small rudder directs a great vessel, so the voice’s significance lies in the course it sets.
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