What Does 1 John 2:20 Mean in the King James?
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word behind “unction” shares its Greek root with “Christ,” so the verse frames this knowing as an anointing received from the Holy One.
THE MEANING
You have an anointing from the One set apart, and the verse places knowing alongside what you have received. Here, that knowing is discernment of truth from the lie, not possession of every fact. What comes from the Holy One is already present among you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that discernment can only come from an outside authority: the verse says you already have an anointing from the Holy One and know.
THE ROOT
χρῖσμα
chrisma
GROWS FROM
χρίω (chriō), verbal stem χρι-
To anoint; to rub or apply oil.
“unction” in this verse is chrisma. The Greek word χρῖσμα (chrisma), “anointing,” shares its root with Χριστός (Christos), “anointed one.” English separates the two words, while Greek lets the verse’s received anointing echo the name of the Anointed One.
ALSO GROWS
chriō: To anoint.
χρίω
This is the verb behind χρῖσμα, naming the action from which the anointing takes its name.
Christos: Anointed one.
Χριστός
The shared root links the anointing received here with the title “Anointed One.”
οἴδατε
oidate
GROWS FROM
εἴδω (eidō), stem εἰδ-
To see or perceive; the related perfect form οἶδα (oida) means to know, to have seen.
The Greek οἴδατε (oidate), “you know,” belongs to the εἴδω (eidō), “see,” word family. English leaves that seeing beneath “know,” while the verse places this knowing alongside an anointing received from the Holy One.
ALSO GROWS
oida: To know; to have seen.
οἶδα
This is the lexical form behind οἴδατε, the verse’s “ye know.”
eidos: Form or appearance.
εἶδος
From the same word family, it names what is seen or perceived.
ἁγίου
hagiou
GROWS FROM
ἅγιος (hagios), stem ἁγι-
Set apart; sacred.
“Holy One” in this verse is hagiou. The source is named with ἅγιος (hagios), “set apart.” The anointing and the knowing are both traced to the One set apart, making their source part of the verse’s claim.
ALSO GROWS
hagiazō: To set apart; to consecrate.
ἁγιάζω
The verb shows the same root as an act of setting apart.
hagiasmos: Setting apart; consecration.
ἁγιασμός
This noun carries the root’s sense of being set apart into a process or state.
THE PATTERN
What comes from the Holy One is received as anointing, then expressed through discernment and action.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.THE THREAD
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.The word translated “anointing” in both verses is χρῖσμα (chrisma), “anointing,” from χρίω (chriō), “to anoint”, the same word family as Χριστός (Christos), “anointed one.” Here the anointing is said to abide and teach, opening “ye know all things” as knowing that grows from what has been received.
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