What Does John 1:11 Mean in the King James?
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
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 same Greek word calls both his realm and his people “his own,” yet belonging does not mean he is received.
THE MEANING
He is present among what belongs to him, and the people who are his still refuse to receive him. The verse holds belonging and welcome apart: nearness to him does not itself mean he is taken in.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that being near what is his, or counted among his own, automatically means receiving him.
THE ROOT
ἴδια
idia
GROWS FROM
ἴδιος
idios
one’s own; belonging to oneself
The same adjective appears first as neuter τὰ ἴδια (ta idia, “his own things”) and then as masculine οἱ ἴδιοι (hoi idioi, “his own people”). The verse moves from the realm that belongs to him to the people who belong to him, showing that neither form of belonging guarantees reception.
ALSO GROWS
ta idia: his own things, realm, or possessions
τὰ ἴδια
The neuter form points first to what belongs to him.
hoi idioi: his own people
οἱ ἴδιοι
The same word then turns from his realm to the people who belong to him.
παρέλαβον
parelabon
GROWS FROM
λαμβάνω
lambanō
take, receive
The verse uses παρέλαβον (parelabon, “they received”), a form of παραλαμβάνω (paralambanō, “receive; take alongside”), built on λαμβάνω (lambanō, “take; receive”). The compound can carry the picture of taking someone alongside, so the refusal reaches beyond failing to notice him: it withholds welcome.
ALSO GROWS
lambanō: take, receive
λαμβάνω
This is the verb at the heart of the compound used for “received.”
paralambanō: receive, take alongside
παραλαμβάνω
This is the verb from which παρέλαβον (parelabon, “they received”) comes.
katalambanō: grasp, seize, overtake; comprehend
καταλαμβάνω
Its form κατέλαβεν (katelaben, “comprehended”) appears in John 1:5, linking reception to the language of grasping.
THE PATTERN
Presence and belonging do not guarantee reception: what is encountered can be refused or taken in.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.THE THREAD
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:The next verse shifts from παραλαμβάνω (paralambanō, “receive; take alongside”) to its base λαμβάνω (lambanō, “take; receive”): “as many as received him.” The shared root holds refusal and reception together, and the next line shows what opens when he is received.
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