What Does John 15:20 Mean in the King James?
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
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’s reception travels with its bearer: the servant can be pursued as the lord is, and the lord’s word can be kept through the servant.
THE MEANING
Your place as Jesus’ servant does not lift you above his experience. His word meets two kinds of response through you: some pursue you, while others keep what you say as they keep what he said.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that serving Jesus places you beyond the treatment he receives.
THE ROOT
διώκω
diōkō
GROWS FROM
διωκ-
Pursue or chase.
The word beneath “persecuted” means pursuit: the pressure that meets Jesus reaches those who serve him too. The verse describes opposition as a response that follows the same path from lord to servant.
ALSO GROWS
diōgmos: Pursuit carried out as persecution.
διωγμός
It names the hostile pursuit that can follow Jesus’ servants as it followed him.
diōktēs: One who pursues or persecutes.
διώκτης
It makes visible the person doing the pursuing in the verse’s repeated pattern.
τηρέω
tēreō
GROWS FROM
τηρε-
Watch over, guard, keep.
The word rendered “kept” carries the sense of guarding or watching over. The verse holds this response beside persecution: the word can be guarded and carried from Jesus to those who speak for him.
ALSO GROWS
tērēsis: The act of keeping or observing.
τήρησις
It shows that “keeping” can mean sustained attention to a word, not merely hearing it once.
diatēreō: To preserve or keep something intact.
διατηρέω
This related form illuminates how Jesus’ saying can remain guarded as it passes to his servants.
THE PATTERN
The servant shares the treatment and reception of the one they serve.
The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:THE THREAD
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.Matthew uses the same verb, διώκω (diōkō, “pursue, persecute”), for what can happen to Jesus’ followers. John reveals the pattern beneath it: the pursuit that meets the lord can reach the servant too.
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