What Does John 12:33 Mean?
He said this, showing what death he was about to die.
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
This he said, signifying what death he should die.THE KEY
Jesus’ manner of death is not merely predicted here; it is made a sign.
THE MEANING
You are shown Jesus’ death as something already disclosed: the words point to the kind of death, not merely the fact that he will die. Its manner carries meaning you can see rather than an ending hidden from view.
THE ROOT
σημαίνων
sēmainōn
GROWS FROM
σῆμα
sēma
sign, mark, or token
“showing” in this verse is sēmainōn. The Greek verb carries the sense of indicating or making known through a sign. The verse points beyond the fact of Jesus’ death to its manner, which itself communicates meaning.
ALSO GROWS
sēmainō: to indicate, signal, or signify
σημαίνω
This is the verb in the verse: Jesus’ words signal the kind of death he will die.
sēmeion: a sign or distinguishing mark
σημεῖον
This related word makes visible the connection between signifying and a sign: what is said points to what the manner of death reveals.
THE PATTERN
A sign gives visible form to meaning that would otherwise remain hidden.
I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be the mark of a covenant between me and the earth.For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great sea creature, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the ground.So that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he had spoken, showing by what death he was about to die.THE THREAD
So that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he had spoken, showing by what death he was about to die.John 18:32 repeats the same wording as John 12:33, carrying the verb for “signifying” into the moment the saying is fulfilled. The manner of death disclosed here comes into view there.
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