What Does John 13:11 Mean?
For he had known who would hand him over; therefore he said, Not all of you are clean.
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
For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.THE KEY
The one who will “betray” Jesus is, in Greek, the one who hands him over, an inward distinction sits inside a shared table.
THE MEANING
Jesus knows the one who will hand him over, and not all who are near him are clean. The difference is present before it becomes an action others can see; shared nearness does not make every inward state alike.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being included among those close to Jesus does not by itself mean the heart is clean.
THE ROOT
παραδίδοντα
paradidonta
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
To give; in this compound, to hand over or deliver up.
Παραδίδωμι is built on δίδωμι, “to give,” and means “hand over” or “deliver up.” The English “betray” names the treachery, while the Greek also keeps the transfer itself in view: Jesus is passed into another’s hands.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: To give or grant.
δίδωμι
This is the compound’s base verb; the betrayal is framed as an act of giving over.
metadidōmi: To share or impart.
μεταδίδωμι
The same verb base makes the transfer visible: sharing passes something to another, while παραδίδωμι hands Jesus over to another’s power.
καθαροί
katharoi
GROWS FROM
καθαρ-
kathar-
Clean, clear, free from defilement.
The root family holds the state of being clean beside the act of cleansing. Here, shared washing and nearness do not make that state universal; the one who will hand Jesus over marks the difference.
ALSO GROWS
katharizō: To cleanse or purify.
καθαρίζω
The verb keeps the act of cleansing in the same word family as the state Jesus names.
katharsis: Cleansing or purification.
κάθαρσις
This branch likewise names cleansing, showing how the Greek connects a clean state with its removal of defilement.
THE PATTERN
A person’s inward cleanness is not guaranteed by outward nearness or washing.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steady breath within me.Already you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you.THE THREAD
He who did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us all, how will he not also favor us with all things along with him?The Greek verb translated “betray” here is παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi), the same verb Romans renders “delivered him up.” The shared word keeps the act of handing over in view in both verses: here as betrayal, there as the Son handed over for all.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us