What Does John 16:4 Mean?
But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes you will remember that I said them to you. And these things I did not say to you from the beginning, because I was with you.
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
But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.THE KEY
The word spoken before its hour is already being kept for the moment it will become clear.
THE MEANING
The word reaches you before its hour, so it can return as recognition when that moment arrives. Jesus’ presence holds you now, and what he says remains with you as the hour changes.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A word that is not clear at first has not failed; some words become recognizable when their hour arrives.
THE ROOT
μνημονεύω
mnēmoneuō
GROWS FROM
μνημ-
mnēm-
Memory: holding something in mind so it can be brought back to mind.
“remember” in this verse is mnēmoneuō. The words are already held for the hour when their meaning comes into focus. In this Greek word family, memory and memorial share the μνημ- stem: what is spoken can be preserved across time and brought back into the present.
ALSO GROWS
mnēmē: Memory or recollection.
μνήμη
The later remembering is a return to what has already been received, not a new message.
mnēmeion: A memorial, monument, or tomb.
μνημεῖον
This related word carries the idea of something preserved as a reminder; here, the spoken words remain available across the changing hour.
THE PATTERN
A word given before an event becomes recognition when the event arrives.
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient days the things not yet made, saying, My counsel will stand, and all that I delight in I will make.And now I have said it to you before it comes to be, so that when it comes to be you may lean your full weight on it.And they remembered his words.THE THREAD
And they remembered his words.The same Greek memory-root runs through both verses. What is spoken ahead of its hour can return to the present when the moment arrives.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us