What Does John 10:38 Mean in the King James?
But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in 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 works make the hidden relationship perceptible: what the Son does lets you recognize the Father in him, and him in the Father.
THE MEANING
The works remain visible even when words have not persuaded you. Through them, you can come to know and trust that the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father. Here, knowing and trust meet in what becomes visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that when a speaker’s words do not persuade you, nothing else can disclose what is true.
THE ROOT
ἔργοις
ergois
GROWS FROM
ἐργ-
erg-
Deed, task, or action, what is done.
The works are tangible actions, not merely claims about the Father. Their visible expression gives you a way to recognize the relationship the verse names.
ALSO GROWS
ergazomai: To work or carry something out.
ἐργάζομαι
The related verb keeps the focus on action: the works are what is being done.
energeia: Active operation or working.
ἐνέργεια
This branch echoes the movement from an inner relationship into something perceptible.
γνῶτε
gnōte
GROWS FROM
γνω-
gnō-
Knowing, recognition, or coming to know.
The word can carry the sense of coming to know through recognition or encounter. Here, the works open that recognition: the relationship is discerned through what becomes visible.
ALSO GROWS
gnōsis: Knowledge or recognition.
γνῶσις
This related noun shows the knowing that grows from perceiving what is present.
gnōstos: Known, recognizable, or familiar.
γνωστός
The works make the relationship recognizable rather than leaving it as an unseen assertion.
πιστεύσατε
pisteusate
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust or reliance; placing confidence in.
“believe” in this verse is pisteusate. The verse uses the same word family for trusting the works and trusting what they disclose. Believing here reaches beyond accepting a statement: it is reliance on the relationship made visible.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust or reliance.
πίστις
This noun names the trust the works are meant to open.
pistos: Firm, steady, or reliable.
πιστός
This branch carries the sense of something that can be relied upon, fitting the move from seeing the works to trusting what they reveal.
THE PATTERN
Visible works can disclose the source and relationship that words alone leave unseen.
And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.THE THREAD
Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.Both verses use ἔργα (erga, works) as a visible basis for trust. John 14:11 names the same mutual indwelling directly, clarifying what the works disclose here: the Father in the Son, and the Son in the Father.
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