What Does 1 John 3:22 Mean in the King James?
And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
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 Greek word for “keep” also means “guard”: asking and receiving belong to a life that holds God’s instruction close and does what pleases him.
THE MEANING
Your asking and receiving belong together with a life that keeps God’s instruction in view and does what pleases him. The verse presents prayer as part of a lived relationship, not an isolated request. Its “whatsoever” sits within that relationship, and its “because” gives the openness of asking a shape.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that asking is a stand-alone technique whose outcome is unrelated to how you live.
THE ROOT
τηρέω
tēreō
GROWS FROM
τηρ-
tēr-
To watch over, guard, or preserve.
“keep” in this verse is tēreō. The word carries the sense of keeping something in one’s care, not merely checking off compliance. Its family includes τήρησις (tērēsis, guarding or custody) and συντηρέω (syntēreō, preserve carefully); the verse connects asking with a life that keeps God’s instruction present and puts it into practice.
ALSO GROWS
tērēsis: Guarding, custody
τήρησις
It makes “keeping” concrete as holding something under one’s care.
syntēreō: Preserve carefully, keep intact
συντηρέω
It echoes the verse’s picture of instruction held close and carried into life.
λαμβάνω
lambanō
GROWS FROM
λαμβαν-
lamban-
To take hold of or receive.
The verb translated “receive” also carries the sense of taking or taking hold. That shade gives the verse’s receiving a tangible quality: what comes from God is welcomed and taken in, within a life shaped by keeping his instruction.
ALSO GROWS
katalambanō: Take hold of, seize, grasp
καταλαμβάνω
The compound makes the grasping sense of the root visible.
metalambanō: Partake of, share in
μεταλαμβάνω
It shows receiving as taking a share, not merely observing something from a distance.
THE PATTERN
Asking bears fruit as desire is shaped toward God; self-consuming desire distorts the request.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.THE THREAD
If ye love me, keep my commandments.τηρέω (tēreō, “keep” or “guard”) is the same verb here and in 1 John 3:22, linking love with keeping the commandments. That shared word opens the current verse further: asking and receiving belong within a life that guards the instruction and does what pleases God.
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