What Does John 1:19 Mean in the King James?
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
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
Before anyone answers “Who art thou?” the verse frames the scene as testimony: identity enters as something witnessed, not merely labeled.
THE MEANING
The question “Who art thou?” puts identity under examination. The verse names the account as testimony, so the question does not settle who a person is; it opens a witness-bearing account whose answer is still to be heard.
THE ROOT
μαρτυρία
martyria
GROWS FROM
μαρτυρ-
martyr-
witness; testify
Under “record” is the Greek word for testimony, connecting John’s account to the act and person of witness. The opening frames the identity question within a witness-bearing account.
ALSO GROWS
martyreō: to bear witness; testify
μαρτυρέω
The verb makes explicit the act carried by the testimony named in the verse.
martyrion: testimony; evidence
μαρτύριον
This branch names the evidence or testimony that a witness gives.
יוֹחָנָן
Yōḥānān
GROWS FROM
חנן
ḥ-n-n
show favor; be gracious
“John” in this verse is Yōḥānān. Yōḥānān is understood as “YHWH has shown favor”; the name holds favor beneath the identity now being questioned. The English name is more than a label here: it carries a nature of favor into the testimony.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēn: favor
חֵן
This word names favor in the same root family carried in Yōḥānān.
ḥannūn: gracious
חַנּוּן
This adjective expresses the gracious quality contained in the name’s root.
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Yerushalayim
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
whole; complete
“Jerusalem” in this verse is Yerushalayim. Yerushalayim carries the consonants of shalom (wholeness) in its name and the dual ending -ayim. The inquiry that opens this testimony comes from a place whose name holds wholeness, bringing the question toward an image of what is whole.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: wholeness
שָׁלוֹם
This is the familiar branch of the root carried within Yerushalayim.
shalem: whole; complete
שָׁלֵם
This branch describes what is brought into completeness.
THE PATTERN
A public question about identity becomes accountable when it is held within testimony.
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.THE THREAD
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.John 1:7 uses the same μαρτυρ- family as μαρτυρία in this verse: the account opens as testimony, and the next description names John as one who bears witness. Together, the verses make “Who art thou?” the opening of a witness, not a final label.
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