What Does John 1:18 Mean in the King James?
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
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 unseen God becomes knowable from within the Father’s own intimacy, through the Son who is in his bosom and declares him.
THE MEANING
You meet the limit of sight and the nearness of disclosure in the same verse. The Son is in the Father’s bosom, within the Father’s intimate presence, and makes him known. The Father’s character is spoken out through the Son.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that what cannot be directly seen cannot truly be known: the Son makes the Father known from their intimacy.
THE ROOT
ἐξηγήσατο
exēgēsato
GROWS FROM
ἐξηγέομαι
exēgeomai
To relate, explain, or set forth in detail.
“declared” in this verse is exēgēsato. The Greek verb is the source of the English word “exegesis”: the Son makes the Father known by explaining him. The verse joins that disclosure to intimacy, the one who reveals the Father is in the Father’s bosom.
ALSO GROWS
exēgētēs: Interpreter or expositor.
ἐξηγητής
This related word names one who explains a text, echoing the Son’s role in making the Father known.
diēgeomai: To recount or relate in detail.
διηγέομαι
This related verb highlights disclosure through a full telling, rather than a bare label.
ἑώρακεν
heōraken
GROWS FROM
ὁράω
horaō
To see or perceive.
“seen” in this verse is heōraken. The Greek word carries the sense of perception as well as sight. John uses this same verb in John 14:9, where seeing Jesus is seeing the Father; the verse’s limit of sight sits beside the Son’s disclosure.
ALSO GROWS
horama: A vision or appearance.
ὅραμα
This word from the same family shows how seeing can name a perceived vision, not only ordinary eyesight.
horasis: Sight or vision.
ὅρασις
This branch keeps the language of perception visible beneath the English word “seen.”
μονογενής
monogenēs
GROWS FROM
γεν- (gen-), in γένος (genos)
Kind, stock, or family; in this compound, joined with μόνος (monos), “only.”
The KJV’s “only begotten” holds the Son’s unique relation, while the word’s parts also carry the sense of one of a kind. His singular relation to the Father is bound to his singular role in making the Father known.
ALSO GROWS
monos: Only or alone.
μόνος
This part of the compound marks the Son’s singularity.
genos: Kind, stock, or family.
γένος
This part gives the compound its language of kind and lineage, holding uniqueness together with relation.
THE PATTERN
The unseen God makes his nature known through the form of disclosure he provides.
And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:THE THREAD
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?The Greek verb translated “hath seen” in John 14:9 is the same verb, ὁράω (horaō), that appears in John 1:18, in a different form. John 1:18 names the limit of sight; John 14:9 shows the Father made known through the Son.
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