What Does John 20:17 Mean?
Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet gone up to my Father. But go to my brothers, and say to them, I go up to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.
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
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.THE KEY
The Greek behind “Touch me not” can carry the sense of holding fast, and Jesus turns Mary’s grasp into a message she is sent to carry.
THE MEANING
The risen Jesus opens his relationship with the Father toward you: “my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” What is recognized in the encounter becomes a message carried beyond the moment, so closeness is expressed as shared belonging and witness.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The false belief that closeness to Jesus depends on holding him where you found him. The verse shows a living bond that continues through shared belonging and a message carried outward.
THE ROOT
ἅπτου
haptou
GROWS FROM
ἅπτω
hapto
To fasten or attach; in usage, to touch or kindle.
“cling” in this verse is haptou. The verb family holds together contact and fastening, and elsewhere names the kindling of a lamp. Mary’s encounter moves from grasping toward a message that carries its light outward.
ALSO GROWS
haptetai: Touches or lays hold of.
ἅπτεται
This form shows the word’s sense of contact that reaches and holds.
hapsas: Having lit or kindled.
ἅψας
This form describes lighting a lamp, linking contact with the kindling that makes light visible.
πατέρα
patera
GROWS FROM
πατρ-
patr
Father; the source named within a family line.
The word πατέρα (patera) belongs to the πατρ- (patr) family, which also forms πατριά (patria), meaning family or lineage. When Jesus says “my Father and your Father,” the shared family word places your belonging inside the sentence.
ALSO GROWS
patēr: Father.
πατήρ
This is the family’s central word, naming the relationship Jesus shares with God.
patria: Family or lineage.
πατριά
This branch extends the father-word into the family belonging that the verse opens to you.
THE PATTERN
An encounter becomes a message carried outward by the one who has seen.
Mary Magdalene came and brought word to the disciples that she had perceived the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.And they turned back from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest.And at once he heralded the Anointed One in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.THE THREAD
No one, having lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a couch, but sets it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.The Greek verb family behind “Touch me not” can also describe kindling a lamp. Here, contact becomes light carried outward: Mary’s encounter is given a voice so others can see.
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