What Does John 6:71 Mean?
He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he was the one who would hand him over, being one of the twelve.
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
He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.THE KEY
The word translated “betray” means “hand over,” and the one who hands Jesus over already belongs to the twelve.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two realities together: someone can belong to a close circle and still hand another person over. Shared membership does not guarantee shared allegiance; the fracture can come from within the bond itself.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being inside the trusted circle does not prove that someone is loyal.
THE ROOT
παραδιδόναι
paradidonai
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
To give; in the compound παραδίδωμι, to give or hand over.
“hand him over” in this verse is paradidonai. The Greek verb beneath “betray” is the language of handing someone over. The same verb can describe a delivery or transfer; here the surrounding relationship gives that handover its painful force.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: give
δίδωμι
This is the give-verb at the center of the compound, showing the transfer contained within “hand over.”
paradidōmi: hand over, deliver, betray
παραδίδωμι
This is the compound used for Judas’s act: the transfer of Jesus into another’s hands.
apodidōmi: give back, render, pay
ἀποδίδωμι
This related compound also grows from the give-verb; context determines whether the transfer is a betrayal, a return, or payment.
THE PATTERN
A handover from within a bond exposes how closeness and allegiance can come apart.
Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brothers heard and responded.Even the man of my wholeness, upon whom I leaned my weight, eats my bread and lifts his heel against me.But Jesus said unto him, Judas, are you handing over the Son of Man with a kiss?THE THREAD
Who was handed over for our stumbles, and raised for our alignment.“Betray” in John and “delivered” here translate forms of the same Greek verb, παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi), “to hand over.” The shared word holds the handover in common while each verse’s context reveals its different meaning.
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