What Does John 13:27 Mean?
And after the morsel, the Adversary entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, What you do, do quickly.
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 after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.THE KEY
In Greek, Jesus repeats the verb for “do”: Judas is already doing it, and Jesus commands him to do it swiftly.
THE MEANING
When an adversarial presence enters and an act is already in motion, this verse keeps both in view: Satan enters Judas, and Jesus tells him to do it quickly. The command stays stark; the sentence gives no explanation that dissolves its force.
THE ROOT
εἰσῆλθεν
eisēlthen
GROWS FROM
ἔρχομαι
come, go
“entered” in this verse is eisēlthen. The verb εἰσέρχομαι (eiserchomai, “enter”) is built from ἔρχομαι (erchomai, “come, go”) with εἰς (“into”); the clause then repeats εἰς in “into him.” Σατανᾶς (Satanas) carries the Hebrew name sense שָׂטָן (śāṭān), “adversary”: the verse describes the adversary as entering Judas.
ALSO GROWS
eiserchomai: enter, come in
εἰσέρχομαι
This compound joins εἰς (“into”) to the root verb for coming or going, naming the movement described here.
exerchomai: go out, come out
ἐξέρχομαι
The same verb family with ἐξ (“out”) makes the contrast between entering and going out visible.
proserchomai: come near, approach
προσέρχομαι
With πρός (“toward”), the same root describes movement toward someone, widening the family of directional movements.
ποιεῖς
poieis
GROWS FROM
ποιέω
make, do
“doest” in this verse is poieis. John places ποιεῖς (poieis, “you are doing”) beside ποίησον (poiēson, “do!”), two forms of ποιέω. The repetition makes the command address an act already in progress; it is not worded as “begin an act.”
ALSO GROWS
poiēma: work, thing made
ποίημα
This noun names what is made, showing the same root moving from the act of doing to its result.
poiētēs: doer, maker
ποιητής
This noun names the one who does or makes, extending the root from an action to its agent.
τάχιον
tachion
GROWS FROM
ταχύς
swift, quick
Τάχιον is a comparative adverbial form of ταχύς, carrying the sense “more quickly” or “sooner.” Beside the repeated ποιέω, it compresses the instruction into “what you are doing, do it swiftly.”
ALSO GROWS
tacheōs: quickly, swiftly
ταχέως
This adverb shares the ταχ- stem and expresses the same quality of speed.
tachos: speed, swiftness
τάχος
This noun shares the ταχ- stem and names the speed the command calls for.
THE PATTERN
A threshold in scripture marks the point where a presence enters and changes what follows.
If you do well, will you not be lifted up? And if you do not do well, falling short crouches at the door. Its reaching is toward you, and you shall rule over it.Therefore, as through one man falling short entered into the world, and death through it; and so death passed through to all people, because all have missed the mark.Look, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.THE THREAD
I am the door. Through me, if anyone enters, he shall be delivered, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture.The phrase “enter in” uses the same Greek verb family, εἰσέρχομαι, as “entered” in John 13:27. One verse describes Satan entering Judas; here a person enters through Jesus and finds pasture, while the shared verb preserves the image of entry.
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