What Does John 17:6 Mean?
I have made your nature visible to the people you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have guarded your word.
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
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.THE KEY
The Father’s name is the Father’s nature made visible through Jesus.
THE MEANING
The Father’s nature comes into view through Jesus. Those entrusted to the Son already belong to the Father, and they hold to the word through which that nature is revealed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that God’s name is only a title to recite; here, it is made visible.
THE ROOT
ὄνομα
ónoma
GROWS FROM
ὀνομ- (stem ὀνοματ-)
Name, designation, or recognized identity.
Here, the Father’s name is more than a label: it is the nature by which the Father is recognized. Jesus makes that nature perceptible in what he reveals.
ALSO GROWS
onomázō: To name or call by name.
ὀνομάζω
Naming identifies who is being revealed; in this verse, the Father’s identity is made known through the Son.
onomastós: Named or renowned.
ὀνομαστός
A name carries a recognized identity, pointing beyond a sound to the one known by it.
πεφανέρωκα
pephanérōka
GROWS FROM
φανερ- (from φαίνω, phaínō)
To make visible, bring into the open, or cause to appear.
“made visible” in this verse is pephanérōka. The verb presents revelation as something brought into view, not merely stated. Joined to “name,” it shows the Father’s nature becoming perceptible through the Son.
ALSO GROWS
phanerós: Visible or manifest.
φανερός
The Father’s name is made visible through the Son’s life and words.
phanérōsis: Manifestation or disclosure.
φανέρωσις
The verse describes disclosure that lets the Father’s identity be known.
THE PATTERN
A name becomes knowable when the character carried by it is revealed.
And the LORD passed by before his face, and called out, The LORD, The LORD God, compassionate and full of favor, slow to flare, abounding in faithful love and truth,Those who know your name lean their weight on you, for you do not let go of those who seek you, LORD.Jesus said to him, Have I been with you for so long a time, and you have not known me, Philip? The one who has perceived me has perceived the Father. How can you say, Point us to the Father?THE THREAD
I have made your nature known to them, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.This repeats the same word for “name” (ὄνομα, ónoma) and makes its disclosure ongoing. The Father’s nature is not only information passed to them; the verse connects it with the Father’s love dwelling in them.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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