What Does John 6:20 Mean?
But he said to them, I AM. Do not be afraid.
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 he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.THE KEY
The Greek “ἐγώ εἰμι” (egō eimi) means “I am”: the answer to fear is a presence already there, before the waters change.
THE MEANING
The voice meets you while the waters still look threatening. “It is I” is “I am,” so recognition of who is present comes before the danger is described as ending. The words meet fear directly without saying the threat is imaginary.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that you must first escape danger before presence can meet you.
THE ROOT
ἐγώ εἰμι
egō eimi
GROWS FROM
εἰμί
eimi
To be, exist.
The English wording can sound like simple identification, but the Greek keeps “I am” audible. A related word for presence, παρουσία (parousia), carries the idea of being alongside: the speaker’s identity arrives as presence within the frightening scene.
ALSO GROWS
ōn: Being; the one who is.
ὤν
This participial form of εἰμί names being itself, keeping the verb behind “I am” in view.
parousia: Presence; arrival.
παρουσία
Formed with a prefix meaning “alongside” and the verb “to be,” it connects being with being present alongside.
φοβεῖσθε
phobeisthe
GROWS FROM
φοβ (phob), in φοβέω (phobeō)
To fear or be frightened.
“afraid” in this verse is phobeisthe. The Greek is a verb addressed to the people with him: “do not fear.” Its word family holds both fear and what provokes it, meeting the fear without denying what appears frightening.
ALSO GROWS
phobos: Fear; alarm.
φόβος
This noun names the fear the command addresses.
phoberos: Fearsome; alarming.
φοβερός
This related word describes what provokes fear, keeping the frightening scene and the fearful response in one word family.
THE PATTERN
Fear is answered by presence entering the threatening scene, not only by a promise that the threat will disappear.
Even though I walk through the valley of deepest darkness, I do not fear harm, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.When you cross through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not kindle upon you.Straightway Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be bold; I AM; do not be afraid.THE THREAD
Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.Both verses use ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi, “I am”). In John 6:20 those words meet fear in the waters; here the same present-tense verb is set against Abraham’s past, giving “I am” a wider resonance.
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