What Does John 18:1 Mean?
When Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the winter-torrent of Cedron, where there was a garden, and he entered it with his disciples.
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
When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.THE KEY
The Greek uses the same verb for going out and entering, so departure and arrival belong to one continuous movement.
THE MEANING
The verse holds leaving and arriving together: Jesus goes forth with his disciples, and they enter the garden with him. Your own transitions can hold continuity too; a change of place does not by itself break companionship.
THE ROOT
ἐξῆλθεν
exēlthen
GROWS FROM
ἔρχομαι
erchomai
To come, go, or arrive.
“went forth / entered” in this verse is exēlthen. English gives two different verbs, “went forth” and “entered”, but both Greek forms are built on erchomai, with prefixes that point outward and inward. The sentence joins leaving and arriving in a single passage, with the disciples alongside Jesus.
ALSO GROWS
exerchomai: Go out, go forth.
ἐξέρχομαι
This is the verb behind “went forth,” with ex- marking movement outward.
eiserchomai: Enter, go in.
εἰσέρχομαι
This is the verb behind “entered,” with eis- marking movement inward; it shares the same base as “went forth.”
THE PATTERN
Scripture pairs going out and coming in as two directions within one passage of movement.
The LORD watches over your going out and your coming in, from now and to the ages.I am the door. Through me, if anyone enters, he shall be delivered, and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture.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.John 10:9 uses the same Greek verb family for entering and going out that appears in John 18:1. There, the paired movement carries Jesus and his disciples from the spoken words into the garden; here, it describes movement through a door toward pasture.
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