What Does John 20:20 Mean?
And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad, when they perceived the Lord.
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 when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.THE KEY
The risen Lord is recognized not after his wounds disappear, but through the wounds that remain.
THE MEANING
The risen Lord is present with the marks of suffering still visible; recognition brings gladness. His wounds remain within his living body, so life does not erase what he has borne; it changes what those marks mean.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the belief that wholeness requires every wound to vanish: the risen Lord is still marked, and the marks do not negate his life.
THE ROOT
ἔδειξεν
edeixen
GROWS FROM
δεικ-
deik-
to show, point out, or make evident
“showed” in this verse is edeixen. The force of the word is to make something evident: the hands and side are presented as evidence of identity. The marks remain, but their meaning shifts from signs of death to signs by which the living Lord is recognized.
ALSO GROWS
apodeixis: demonstration, proof
ἀπόδειξις
A demonstration makes something clear by showing it; here, the visible marks make his identity known.
endeixis: indication, evidence
ἔνδειξις
An indication points toward what is present; the hands and side direct recognition to the Lord before them.
ἰδόντες
idontes
GROWS FROM
ὁράω
to see, perceive
“perceived” in this verse is idontes. The seeing carries the sense of perception: recognition comes through encounter with the Lord, not through information about him. English can leave “saw” at eyesight, while the word also opens toward knowing what is present.
ALSO GROWS
horasis: vision, seeing
ὅρασις
This related word names seeing as perception, which fits the disciples’ recognition of the one before them.
horatos: visible, able to be seen
ὁρατός
The Lord is made visible through a body whose marks can be seen.
ἐχάρησαν
echarēsan
GROWS FROM
χαρ-
char-
to rejoice, be glad
“glad” in this verse is echarēsan. This word family includes the noun for joy and related words for favor and thanks. Here gladness arises in response to the presence they recognize.
ALSO GROWS
chara: joy
χαρά
Gladness and joy belong to the same word family; the disciples’ joy follows their encounter with the Lord.
charis: favor, thanks
χάρις
A related word names favor and thanks, adding the sense of gladness as a response to what is received.
THE PATTERN
The risen Lord is recognized through the same wounded body that passed through death.
But he was pierced for our rebellion, and crushed for our crookedness. The straightening that made us whole was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed.Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see, for a breath does not have flesh and bones, as you see me have.Then he said to Thomas, Bring your finger here, and look at my hands, and bring your hand here, and thrust it into my side, and do not become unsteady, but be steady.THE THREAD
But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.πλευρά (pleura, “side”) is the same Greek noun in both verses. The side pierced in death is still present when the risen Lord is recognized, tying resurrection to the wounded body the disciples knew.
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