What Does 2 John 1:4 Mean in the King James?
I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
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
Here, truth is not a possession but a path: the Father’s instruction takes visible shape in the steps of the children.
THE MEANING
Your joy rises as you see those who have come from you walking in truth. The truth they carry shows itself in how they move through life, in keeping with the command received from the Father.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Truth can remain a private belief or a spoken claim without taking shape in how a life moves.
THE ROOT
περιπατοῦντας
peripatountas
GROWS FROM
πατέω
patéō
To tread or step; with περί (peri, around), it forms περιπατέω, to walk about.
The word for walking is built on the act of treading. The children’s truth is not hidden in an idea: it becomes visible in the ground their repeated steps cover.
ALSO GROWS
peripateō: To walk about; to conduct oneself.
περιπατέω
This is the verb behind “walking,” joining a person’s way of life to the steps they take.
katapateō: To tread down or trample.
καταπατέω
It shares the same treading root, making the bodily image beneath “walking” clear: feet meet the path and leave their mark.
ἀλήθεια
alētheia
GROWS FROM
ληθ-
lēth-
Hiddenness or escaping notice; ἀλήθεια is commonly understood as what is not hidden.
The word carries a trace of what comes out of hiding. Beside “walking,” it suggests truth made visible in the way a life moves, rather than kept concealed as a claim.
ALSO GROWS
lanthanō: To be hidden or escape notice.
λανθάνω
Its shared root gives a contrast: the walk can reveal what words alone might leave unseen.
lēthē: Forgetfulness or concealment.
λήθη
This branch names the hiddenness that stands behind the word’s sense of truth brought into view.
THE PATTERN
Truth becomes visible as a way people walk, not merely as a claim they repeat.
Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:THE THREAD
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:It uses the same walking verb and ties that walk directly to truth. Here, children are found walking in truth; 1 John sharpens the connection by showing how a walk in darkness contradicts a claim of fellowship.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us