What Does John 13:23 Mean in the King James?
Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
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 Greek word for “bosom” also names a sheltered bay: love is pictured as a place where the body can settle.
THE MEANING
The verse presents your relation to Jesus as a closeness where your weight can rest. Being loved is shown as nearness, not a distant label.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that love is only a word spoken from a distance: here love is close enough to lean on.
THE ROOT
κόλπῳ
kolpōi
GROWS FROM
κολπ-
kolp-
The Greek stem gathers the senses of bosom, fold, and bay or inlet, a hollow that can hold or shelter.
English gives you “bosom,” while the same Greek word can name a sheltered inlet. The image holds closeness and refuge together: the beloved disciple rests in a place that receives him.
ALSO GROWS
kolpos: bosom; also a bay or inlet
κόλπος
Acts 27:39 uses this word for a bay, showing that the same word can name a hollow in the shore and the body’s embrace.
kolpon: bosom; the accusative form of the same word
κόλπον
Luke 16:22 uses this form in “Abraham’s bosom,” carrying the image of being received and held.
ἠγάπα
ēgapa
GROWS FROM
ἀγαπ-
agap-
The verb form means “loved”; its word family names love and the beloved.
The verb behind “loved” belongs to the same Greek family as the noun for love and the word for “beloved.” Here that love takes a bodily shape: the beloved disciple leans into the one who loves him.
ALSO GROWS
agapē: love
ἀγάπη
This noun names love from the same word family; here the verb’s love is pictured through the disciple’s nearness.
agapētos: beloved, loved
ἀγαπητός
This related word names someone as beloved, echoing how the verse identifies the disciple through the love he receives.
THE PATTERN
Scripture pictures care and belonging as being gathered into a bosom, close enough to hold and carry.
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.THE THREAD
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.John uses the same Greek word, κόλπος (kolpos), for the Son’s place in the Father’s bosom. The disciple’s nearness to Jesus echoes that image of belonging held close.
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