What Does John 5:6 Mean?
When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been that way a long time already, he said to him, Do you want to become whole?
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 saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?THE KEY
Jesus knows how long the man has been in this condition and still asks whether he wants to become sound.
THE MEANING
Jesus sees you as you are and knows the length of what you carry. He asks about becoming whole, holding the full duration in view without letting duration be the final word.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A condition lasting a long time is not proof that wholeness is no longer possible.
THE ROOT
ὑγιὴς
hygiēs
GROWS FROM
ὑγι-
Health, soundness; being in sound condition.
“become whole” in this verse is hygiēs. This word names the condition of being sound, and its Greek family also names health and being healthy. The question reaches beyond the man’s immediate position: it asks whether he wants to become sound.
ALSO GROWS
hygiainō: Be healthy or sound.
ὑγιαίνω
This verb shares the root and shows that soundness can describe an ongoing condition.
hygieia: Health, soundness.
ὑγίεια
This noun names the health that the question holds open as a possibility.
θέλεις
theleis
GROWS FROM
θελ-
To wish, will, or be willing.
“wilt” in this verse is theleis. The question makes the man’s desire part of the encounter. Before naming an outcome, Jesus addresses the willingness contained in θέλεις.
ALSO GROWS
thelō: Wish, will, desire.
θέλω
This is the verb behind the question and carries its direct focus on what the man wants.
thelēma: Will, desire.
θέλημα
This related noun makes the root’s connection to desire and willing visible.
THE PATTERN
Wholeness is restoration to soundness, whether the wound is inward or the body’s visible condition.
He mends the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.And Jesus answered and said to them, Those who are strong have no need of a healer, but those who are sick.Let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the nature of Jesus the Anointed One of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before your faces, sound.THE THREAD
Straightway the man became whole, and lifted up his mat, and walked. And that same day was the Sabbath.Verse 6 asks whether the man wants to become ὑγιὴς, sound; verse 9 uses that same Greek word to name his new condition. What first appears as a possibility becomes present in his body, and he walks.
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