What Does John 12:22 Mean in the King James?
Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
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 repeated “tell” makes the path to Jesus a shared relay: one voice receives the request, then two carry it forward.
THE MEANING
The request to see Jesus moves through a human relay: Philip tells Andrew, then the two of them tell Jesus. What begins in one person’s speech becomes a shared approach and reaches the one they seek.
THE ROOT
λέγει
legei
GROWS FROM
λεγ-
λεγ- (leg-) is the speaking stem of λέγω (legō): to say, to speak.
“telleth / tell” in this verse is legei. English shifts from “telleth” to “tell,” but both forms come from the same Greek verb, λέγω (legō, say). The shared stem reveals the verse’s movement: a request travels by being voiced, received, and voiced again.
ALSO GROWS
logos: word, message, account
λόγος
Its λεγ-/λογ- stem variation belongs to the λέγω family: speech also takes shape as a message that can be carried onward.
dialegomai: converse, discuss
διαλέγομαι
This compound keeps the λεγ- stem in speech exchanged between people; Philip and Andrew’s telling becomes a joint report.
THE PATTERN
A movement toward encounter is carried by people who receive a need and bring it onward.
And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.THE THREAD
He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.In John 1:41, the same λέγω (legō, say) frames Andrew’s words to his brother: “We have found the Messias.” Here Andrew first receives Philip’s message, then joins him in telling Jesus; the repeated verb makes speech itself the path by which people move toward him.
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