What Does John 11:14 Mean in the King James?
Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
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 word translated “plainly” means open, frank speech: Jesus names death without the covering of a euphemism.
THE MEANING
The verse meets you with a painful reality spoken directly: Lazarus has died. What had been softened into “sleep” is now named without ambiguity.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that calling death “sleep” preserves the truth here: Jesus makes the reality explicit.
THE ROOT
παρρησίᾳ
parrēsia
GROWS FROM
παρρησία
parrēsia
Openness and frankness in speech; freedom to speak without concealment.
English “plainly” can suggest a clear manner of speaking, while παρρησίᾳ (parrēsia, “openly, frankly”) emphasizes unreserved speech. Jesus removes the ambiguity left by the disciples’ reading of “sleep” and states what is happening directly.
ALSO GROWS
parrēsia: Frankness, boldness, or openness in speech.
παρρησία
The same noun appears as “boldness” in Acts 4:13, showing that this openness is a quality of speaking without concealment.
parrēsiazomai: To speak openly or boldly.
παρρησιάζομαι
This verb appears as “preached boldly” in Acts 9:27; it makes explicit the action carried by the openness in Jesus’ words.
ἀπέθανεν
apethanen
GROWS FROM
θνῄσκω
thnēskō
To die; undergo death.
The Greek verb ἀπέθανεν (apethanen, “died”) names the event, while the KJV gives its resulting state as “is dead.” The statement leaves no room to mistake death for sleep.
ALSO GROWS
apothnēskō: To die.
ἀποθνῄσκω
This is the dictionary form of the verb translated “is dead”; John uses the same verb family again when Jesus speaks of one who is dead yet will live.
thanatos: Death.
θάνατος
This related noun names the same reality directly, reinforcing how completely Jesus states what has happened.
THE PATTERN
Truth becomes clear when speech names what is happening without euphemism.
These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.THE THREAD
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:The same Greek verb family, ἀποθνῄσκω (apothnēskō, “to die”), lies behind “is dead” here and “though he were dead” in verse 25. There, death remains fully named in the sentence that also speaks of life.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us