What Does John 5:25 Mean?
Truly, truly, I say to you, The hour is coming, and now it is, when the dead will hear and respond to the voice of the Son of God, and those who respond will live.
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
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.THE KEY
The dead are not beyond reach: the voice finds them, and hearing becomes the passage into life.
THE MEANING
The voice reaches those called dead, and hearing it opens into life. The hour is both coming and already present, so this movement is alive now. Deadness is not beyond the reach of the voice.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that deadness makes someone unreachable is undone here: the voice reaches the dead, and those who hear live.
THE ROOT
ἀκούσουσιν
akousousin akousantes
GROWS FROM
ἀκούω
to hear, listen, take in
“will hear and respond” in this verse is akousousin akousantes. The verse uses forms of ἀκούω (akouō, hear) twice: first the dead will hear, then those who have heard will live. The repeated root makes hearing the hinge in the movement from deadness to life.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: hearing; a report or message heard
ἀκοή
This noun shares the root and shows hearing as both reception and what is heard.
hypakouō: to listen under; to obey or heed
ὑπακούω
This branch shows how hearing can extend into a responsive act.
eisakouō: to listen to; to hear favorably
εἰσακούω
This branch carries hearing toward attentive reception, echoing the voice that reaches the dead.
ζήσουσιν
zēsousin
GROWS FROM
ζάω
to live, be alive
“will live” in this verse is zēsousin. The verb names life as an event that follows hearing, not merely an abstract condition. Its word-family includes ζωή (zōē, life) and ζωοποιέω (zōopoieō, make alive), giving the verse a movement from hearing to living.
ALSO GROWS
zōē: life
ζωή
This noun names the life that is opened by hearing the voice.
zōopoieō: make alive, give life
ζωοποιέω
This branch makes explicit the life-giving movement that the verse describes.
THE PATTERN
A word that reaches the hearer can carry life across the boundary of death.
Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.And when he had said these things, he cried out with a great voice, Lazarus, come out!So then trust comes out of hearing, and hearing comes through the word of God.THE THREAD
So then trust comes out of hearing, and hearing comes through the word of God.The noun translated “hearing” is ἀκοή (akoē, hearing), from the same Greek word-family as ἀκούω (akouō, hear) in John 5:25. Here hearing is the opening through which trust comes; in John, it is the opening through which life comes.
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