What Does John 4:23 Mean?
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true ones who bow down bow before the Father in breath and in truth, for the Father seeks such as these to bow before him.
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 the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.THE KEY
The same Greek word-family calls the worshippers genuine and names the truth in which they bow: the Father seeks a whole person, not a religious performance.
THE MEANING
This is happening now: the Father seeks people whose worship is genuine, offered in breath and truth. Their bow reaches beyond outward form or location to the reality of the person.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that worship becomes valid only at one sacred site or through the right outward form; the Father seeks worshippers by their inward reality, not their coordinates.
THE ROOT
ἀληθινοί
alēthinoi
GROWS FROM
ἀληθ-
Greek word-family stem
Genuine, real; the word-family of what is true.
The verse uses two forms of the same Greek word-family: the worshippers are “true” (ἀληθινοί, alēthinoi; genuine), and they worship “in truth” (ἀληθείᾳ, alētheia; truth). The genuineness of the person and the truth of the worship belong together.
ALSO GROWS
alēthinos: true, genuine
ἀληθινός
This describes the worshippers themselves as genuine.
alētheia: truth, reality
ἀλήθεια
This names the reality in which those worshippers bow.
alēthēs: true, truthful
ἀληθής
This related form shows the same word-family extending to what is true or truthful.
προσκυνήσουσιν
proskynēsousin
GROWS FROM
προσκυν-
To bow down or prostrate oneself; to pay homage.
“true ones who bow down” in this verse is proskynēsousin. The Greek uses the same word-family for those called worshippers and for their act of worship. English can make worship sound like an idea or category; this root keeps the bodily bow in view.
ALSO GROWS
proskyneō: to bow down, prostrate oneself, pay homage
προσκυνέω
This is the verb behind the worship described in the verse.
proskynētēs: one who bows down; worshipper
προσκυνητής
This names the person through the same action the verse says they perform.
proskynēsis: bowing down, homage
προσκύνησις
This related noun keeps the physical posture inside the idea of worship.
πνεύματι
pneumati
GROWS FROM
πνέω
pneō
To breathe or blow; breath and blowing.
The Greek word here is pneuma, a word that can carry breath, wind, or spirit. English “spirit” can sound detached from the body, while this word keeps living breath within the picture of worship.
ALSO GROWS
pneuma: breath; wind; spirit
πνεῦμα
This is the noun used in the verse; breath and spirit are carried by one Greek word.
pneō: to breathe, blow
πνέω
This verb shows the breath and blowing at the root of the word-family.
pnoē: breath, blast of wind
πνοή
This related noun makes the word-family’s connection to breath and wind audible.
THE PATTERN
Worship is genuine when the outward bow corresponds to truth in the inward person.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward parts; and in the sealed place you make me perceive wisdom.Therefore I urge you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to set your bodies beside God as a living sacrifice, set apart, well-pleasing to him, which is your true service.This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is held far from me.THE THREAD
God is breath, and those who bow down to him must bow before him in breath and in truth.The same Greek word-family for breath (πνεῦμα, pneuma) and the same verb for bowing down (προσκυνέω, proskyneō) continue into this verse. It makes explicit that the way people bow corresponds to what God is, while the repeated word-family for true and truth binds the worshippers to their manner of worship.
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