What Does John 11:10 Mean in the King James?
But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light 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 stumble begins before the foot falls: it begins where light is absent within.
THE MEANING
When you move through the night without light within, you stumble. The sentence makes the lack of light the reason for the fall; motion alone does not make the way visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that keeping moving is enough to stay upright: without light, movement itself carries the risk of stumbling.
THE ROOT
φῶς
phōs
GROWS FROM
φωτ- (phōt-; the stem of φῶς, phōs)
Light or illumination, by which something becomes visible.
The verse locates light within the walker: what is missing is not motion but the illumination that lets the way be seen. The same Greek stem appears in words for giving light and for a light-bearing source.
ALSO GROWS
phōtizō: to illuminate, give light
φωτίζω
It carries the light of φῶς into an action: illumination makes what is unseen visible.
phōstēr: a luminary, a light-bearing source
φωστήρ
It shows light as something that shines into the surrounding darkness, the condition this verse describes.
πταίει
ptaiei
GROWS FROM
πται-
ptai-
to stumble, trip, or fall.
“stumbleth” in this verse is ptaiei. This is the language of a misstep that interrupts movement. The same root can describe both a fall and being kept from falling, revealing the difference between stumbling in darkness and moving without a stumble.
ALSO GROWS
ptaisma: a fall, stumbling, or offense
πταῖσμα
It preserves the image of a misstep that disrupts a person’s onward movement.
aptaistos: without stumbling
ἄπταιστος
This is the same root in the opposite condition: the stumble named here is absent.
THE PATTERN
Movement through darkness without illumination leads to stumbling, while light makes the way visible.
The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.THE THREAD
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,“Falling” translates ἄπταιστος (aptaistos), built from the same πται- (ptai-) root as “stumbleth” here. John names the misstep that darkness brings; Jude names the state of being kept from that stumble.
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