What Does John 7:40 Mean?
Many from the crowd therefore, hearing these words, said, In truth this is the prophet.
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
Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.THE KEY
The people recognize the Prophet by hearing his saying: the voice carries the identity.
THE MEANING
As you hear Jesus’s saying, the verse places recognition in the word received: the speaker is named as the Prophet. The title points to a voice bearing a word from God, so the saying reveals the one speaking.
THE ROOT
προφήτης
prophētēs
GROWS FROM
φη- (phē-, from φημί, phēmi)
Speak, say, declare; joined with προ- (pro-), this forms the title for one who speaks a message.
The title connects the Prophet to the speech he carries. In this verse, what he says makes the speaker recognizable.
ALSO GROWS
phēmi: Say, declare
φημί
This is the speaking seed within the title.
prophēteia: Prophecy, prophetic utterance
προφητεία
The word names the utterance associated with a prophet, tying the title to the spoken message.
prophēteuō: Prophesy, speak as a prophet
προφητεύω
The verb carries the title into action as speech.
ἀκούσαντες
akousantes
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
akou-
Hear, listen.
The people hear the saying and answer with recognition: hearing moves into discernment here. Elsewhere, this word family can also describe heeding what is heard.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: Hearing; report
ἀκοή
The word can name both the act of hearing and what reaches the ear; here, hearing becomes the moment of recognition.
hypakouō: Heed, obey
ὑπακούω
The wider family links hearing with heeding, showing how a received word can call forth a response.
λόγων
logōn
GROWS FROM
λεγ- (leg-, from λέγω, legō)
Say, speak, tell; λόγος (logos) is a word, statement, or account.
The Greek word joins the saying to an articulated word, not just a sound. The people’s reply takes shape around what they have received and heard.
ALSO GROWS
legō: Say, speak
λέγω
This is the verbal seed behind the word for a saying.
dialogos: Conversation, dialogue
διάλογος
This word extends the same speech family into an exchange, echoing the people’s answer to what they hear.
THE PATTERN
The promised Prophet carries words from God, and his speech is given to be heard.
I raise up for them a prophet from among their brothers, like you, and I set my words in his mouth, and he speaks to them all that I command him.For I have not spoken from myself, but the Father who sent me has given me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.For Moses truly said to the fathers, The LORD your God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall hear and respond to him in all things, whatever he says to you.THE THREAD
For Moses truly said to the fathers, The LORD your God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall hear and respond to him in all things, whatever he says to you.Acts uses the same Greek word, προφήτης (prophētēs, prophet), and joins the title directly to hearing what he says. It makes the recognition in John 7:40 precise: hearing the word reveals the promised speaker.
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