What Does John 10:39 Mean in the King James?
Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
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
“Escaped” translates a simple movement, “went out”, so the hands reaching for him never become the boundary of his movement.
THE MEANING
The verse keeps two things distinct for you now: being reached for is not the same as being kept. He goes out of their grasp, and the means remain unstated.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this verse undoes is that another person’s ability to reach for you means they can keep you.
THE ROOT
ἐξῆλθεν
exēlthen
GROWS FROM
ἔρχομαι (érchomai; stem ἐρχ-), with ἐξ- (ex-)
To come or go; with ἐξ-, to go out.
The Greek ἐξῆλθεν (exēlthen) says “he went out,” while “escaped” can suggest a narrowly won escape. The word pictures movement out of their grasp; the verse leaves the means unstated, but their grasp is not where the action ends.
ALSO GROWS
eisérchomai: Enter, go in.
εἰσέρχομαι
The same movement verb can describe going in; here the prefix ἐξ- turns the movement outward, away from their hold.
prosérchomai: Approach, come near.
προσέρχομαι
This branch also describes movement in relation to someone; in this verse, movement carries him out of the reach of those seeking to seize him.
THE PATTERN
A hand reaching to seize does not become ownership when the one targeted moves out of its grasp.
My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.THE THREAD
Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.John 8:59 uses the same verb, ἐξῆλθεν (exēlthen, “went out”), for Jesus leaving the temple. Here it marks movement out of the hands reaching for him, making that earlier departure echo as a pattern of going beyond their grasp.
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