What Does John 14:12 Mean in the King James?
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
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 departure that sounds like absence is named as the ground for Jesus’ work to grow through those who trust him.
THE MEANING
Trust in Jesus is a lived reliance that joins you to the works he does. His going to the Father does not close that work; it is the stated reason that the one who trusts him does those works too, and even greater ones. The verse leaves “greater” unmeasured while locating the work’s source in Jesus.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that Jesus’ departure means his work is over, or that trust is only a private opinion with no expression in what a person does.
THE ROOT
πιστεύων
pisteuōn
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust, reliance, and being worthy of trust.
The word translated “believeth” belongs to the same Greek word family as trust and trustworthiness. That makes trust more than agreement with an idea: it is reliance on Jesus, the relationship through which his work is carried forward in the reader.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust, confidence, reliance.
πίστις
This noun names the reliance expressed by the person who trusts Jesus in the verse.
pistos: Trustworthy, reliable; one who can be trusted.
πιστός
The same word family holds both the act of trusting and the quality of being reliable, showing the relational ground beneath the works.
ἔργα
erga
GROWS FROM
ἐργ-
erg-
Work, deed, action.
The word names enacted work, not merely an idea or intention. Jesus’ works are the pattern named in the verse, and the trusted person’s works become their continuation.
ALSO GROWS
ergon: Work, deed, action.
ἔργον
This singular form makes clear that the verse speaks of concrete action, not only inward belief.
energeō: To be active, work, operate.
ἐνεργέω
This related word carries the same work-family into the sense of activity in motion, echoing the continuation of Jesus’ work through the one who trusts him.
THE PATTERN
God’s work is recognized through trust and carried forward through human action.
And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.THE THREAD
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.The phrase “believe on him” belongs to the same trust-family as “he that believeth” here. Jesus calls trust in the one sent God’s work; in John 14:12, that trust becomes the ground for the believer’s works to continue his.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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