What Does John 10:20 Mean?
And many of them said, He has a demon and is raving. Why do you hear him?
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 many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?THE KEY
The charge of madness works by making listening itself seem foolish, before anyone weighs what the speaker says.
THE MEANING
A crowd calls a speaker possessed and mad, then makes the listener’s attention sound irrational. Its question aims to close the ear before the words are weighed, shifting the issue from what is said to whether the speaker deserves to be heard.
THE ROOT
ἀκούετε
akouete
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
akou-
To hear or listen.
“hear” in this verse is akouete. The Greek verb can mean listening to what is said, not merely registering a sound. The question tries to make that attention itself seem absurd.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: Hearing; a report or message heard.
ἀκοή
This branch connects the act of hearing with what reaches the listener as a message.
hypakoē: Obedience; responsive hearing.
ὑπακοή
Built from the same hearing word with a prefix, it shows how hearing can carry the sense of heeding.
μαίνεται
mainetai
GROWS FROM
μαιν-
main-
To be mad or rave.
“is raving” in this verse is mainetai. The crowd calls the speaker raving, joining a diagnosis of his mind to its claim that he is possessed. Together, the labels divert attention from his words to the person speaking.
ALSO GROWS
mainomai: To be mad or rave.
μαίνομαι
This is the verb’s dictionary form, making clear that the crowd is describing the speaker as raving.
mania: Madness or frenzy.
μανία
This related noun names the state behind the accusation.
δαιμόνιον
daimonion
GROWS FROM
δαιμον-
daimon-
A spirit or demon.
The accusation says the speaker has a demon or spirit, casting his words as the product of possession. That shifts scrutiny away from what he says and onto an alleged condition of the speaker.
ALSO GROWS
daimōn: A spirit or supernatural power.
δαίμων
This related word shows the spirit-language carried by the crowd’s charge.
daimonizomai: To be demonized or possessed.
δαιμονίζομαι
This related verb makes explicit the claim implied by saying someone has a demon.
THE PATTERN
A dismissive label can make a challenging voice seem unworthy of hearing before its words are considered.
And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Are you the one who muddies Israel?And when those at his side heard, they went out to seize him, for they said, He is beside himself.Certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Porch clashed with him. Some said, What would this seed-picker want to say? Others said, He seems to be a herald of foreign gods, because he brought good news of Jesus and of the standing up again.THE THREAD
Others said, These are not the words of one held by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?The reply repeats the same Greek word, δαιμόνιον (daimonion, demon), but tests the accusation against the speaker’s words and the opening of blind eyes. The charge no longer gets the last word once people attend to what he says and does.
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