What Does John 6:40 Mean?
And this is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and leans their full weight into him may have the life of the ages, and I will raise him up at the last day.
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 this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.THE KEY
Life belonging to the ages is already held by the one who trusts the Son, while the raising at the last day remains ahead.
THE MEANING
The will of the One who sends the Son is life for every person who perceives him and trusts him. That life is already present, and its promise reaches through to a raising at the last day.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the idea that this life begins only after death: it says the one who trusts already has it, even as the raising remains ahead.
THE ROOT
αἰώνιον
aiōnion
GROWS FROM
αἰών
aiōn
Age; a span or order of time.
“life of the ages” in this verse is aiōnion. The Greek keeps the word “age” audible: this is life belonging to the ages. The verse says this life is already possessed, even as the raising belongs to the last day.
ALSO GROWS
aiōn: Age; an age or span of time.
αἰών
It makes the time-horizon inside “everlasting life” visible.
aiōnios: Of the age; belonging to the age or ages.
αἰώνιος
This adjective describes the life the verse says the trusting person already has.
πιστεύων
pisteuōn
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust; reliance or confidence placed in another.
“leans their full weight into him” in this verse is pisteuōn. The verse joins perceiving the Son with trusting him: this is more than agreeing with a claim; it is reliance on the one seen. The related word for what is firm and steady gives that trust the feel of placing one’s weight on someone dependable.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust; reliance.
πίστις
It names the trust expressed by “believeth on him.”
pistos: Firm, steady; trustworthy.
πιστός
It shows the dependable character that makes trust possible.
ἀναστήσω
anastēsō
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι (histēmi), with ἀνά (ana-)
Stand or set upright; with ana-, stand up or rise.
“raise him up” in this verse is anastēsō. The promise does not leave age-life as an inward possession: the person is raised up. The same word-family names resurrection, giving the last-day promise the shape of a rising.
ALSO GROWS
histēmi: Stand; set or establish.
ἵστημι
It supplies the root sense beneath being raised up.
anastasis: Rising; resurrection.
ἀνάστασις
It names the rising promised for the last day.
THE PATTERN
Trust holds life present now while the promise of rising reaches beyond death.
Behold, his living soul is swollen, and it is not straight within him, but the aligned one shall live by the lean of his full weight.Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever hears and responds to my word, and leans his full weight on him who sent me, has the life of the ages, and does not come under the judgment, but has crossed over from death into life.For if we trust that Jesus died and rose, so also God will lead those who have slept through Jesus along with him.THE THREAD
Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever hears and responds to my word, and leans his full weight on him who sent me, has the life of the ages, and does not come under the judgment, but has crossed over from death into life.The same Greek trust-word and age-life phrase appear here, and this verse makes their present tense explicit: the one trusting already has life. John 6:40 holds that present possession together with the future raising.
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