What Does John 11:18 Mean in the King James?
Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
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
Bethany’s grief sits fifteen stadia from Jerusalem, so sorrow and the wholeness carried in Jerusalem’s name share the same map.
THE MEANING
Your grief can be real and still be within reach of wholeness. The distance here is concrete and measured, and the surrounding scene shows mourners crossing it to be with Martha and Mary. Grief is present, but it is not beyond the reach of encounter.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse loosens the belief that grief places you beyond the reach of wholeness.
THE ROOT
ἐγγύς
engys
GROWS FROM
ἐγγυ-
engy-
near, close at hand
“nigh” in this verse is engys. The Greek family carries both nearness and the action of drawing near. This verse gives Bethany’s closeness to Jerusalem a measured distance, while the same word family can describe what comes within reach.
ALSO GROWS
engizō: draw near, approach
ἐγγίζω
The related verb turns nearness from a location into movement toward what is close.
engyteros: nearer
ἐγγύτερος
This comparative form makes closeness a matter of degree, as the fifteen stadia do here.
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם
Yerushalayim
GROWS FROM
ש־ל־ם
sh-l-m
wholeness, completeness, soundness
“Jerusalem” in this verse is Yerushalayim. The Hebrew name Yerushalayim carries the ש־ל־ם (sh-l-m) family of wholeness. The verse measures Bethany’s nearness to that named wholeness, holding grief and restoration in the same frame.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: wholeness, well-being
שָׁלוֹם
This branch reveals the wholeness carried in Jerusalem’s name.
shalem: whole, complete
שָׁלֵם
This branch gives the name’s wholeness the sense of something made complete.
THE PATTERN
Nearness brings grief within reach of comfort and wholeness.
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.THE THREAD
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.The Greek word family behind “nigh” here also appears in “at hand” in Mark 1:15, where the governance of God has drawn near. The same root moves from a measurable place on a map to what has come within reach.
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