What Does John 1:44 Mean in the King James?
Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
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
Bethsaida is not just Philip’s address here; it is the shared place that links his name with Andrew and Peter.
THE MEANING
You see Philip’s origin named alongside Andrew and Peter’s: all three are connected to Bethsaida. Before their stories unfold separately, this verse gives them a shared place of belonging.
THE ROOT
πόλεως
poleōs
GROWS FROM
πόλις
polis
city or city-state; a settled civic community
The Greek word translated “city” belongs to a family that also names citizens and civic life. Bethsaida is more than a point on a map here: it is a shared human place that connects Philip with Andrew and Peter.
ALSO GROWS
politēs: citizen
πολίτης
This word grows from the same πόλις family, naming a person through their belonging to a city.
politeia: citizenship; commonwealth
πολιτεία
This branch names civic belonging itself, extending the city from a location into a shared form of life.
THE PATTERN
A city can name a shared human world whose meaning exceeds an individual’s address.
The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.THE THREAD
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.John’s “city” is πόλεως, a form of πόλις; Hebrews uses the same Greek word family for a city with foundations. The shared root lets the hometown that connects Philip, Andrew, and Peter open onto the idea of a city as a common dwelling.
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