What Does John 1:40 Mean?
One of the two who heard from John and followed him was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.
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
One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.THE KEY
Here, hearing becomes following, and following becomes the first step toward bringing someone else into what you have found.
THE MEANING
A voice reaches you, and what you hear can set you in motion. Andrew is named both by the one he follows and by his bond with Simon; the next verse shows that bond carrying his discovery to someone else.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the idea that hearing is merely taking in words: here, it begins a movement that soon reaches another person.
THE ROOT
ἀκολουθησάντων
akolouthēsantōn
GROWS FROM
ἀκολουθ-
akolouth-
Follow, accompany, go along with.
“followed” in this verse is akolouthēsantōn. The Greek word family names both the act of following and the follower, keeping Andrew’s movement tied to relationship. He is identified not only by what he hears but by whom he goes along with.
ALSO GROWS
akolouthos: follower, attendant, companion
ἀκόλουθος
The follower is one who accompanies another, making Andrew’s response a continuing relation rather than a passing moment.
akolouthia: following, sequence
ἀκολουθία
This branch carries the sense of what comes along after; in the verse, following comes after hearing.
ἀδελφός
adelphos
GROWS FROM
ἀδελφ-
adelph-
Brother or sibling; traditionally linked to δελφύς (delphys, “womb”), suggesting shared origin.
“brother” in this verse is adelphos. The word holds kinship as shared origin, not only a label. That bond becomes active in the next verse, when Andrew goes to Simon with what he has found.
ALSO GROWS
adelphē: sister
ἀδελφή
The feminine sibling form shows the shared family word extending across the siblings.
adelphotēs: brotherhood, sibling bond
ἀδελφότης
This branch names the bond itself, echoing how Andrew is introduced through his connection to Simon.
THE PATTERN
A voice that is received sets a person moving, and that movement carries the encounter onward.
Bend your ear and come to me. Hear and respond, and your living soul shall live. I will cut a covenant of the ages with you, the steady faithful loves of David.And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, We have found the Anointed One.THE THREAD
He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, We have found the Anointed One.The same Greek word ἀδελφός (adelphos, “brother”) appears in both verses. The relationship that identifies Andrew here becomes his next action: he finds Simon and shares what he has found.
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