What Does John 15:3 Mean in the King James?
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
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 translated “clean” belongs to the same Greek word-family as the “pruning” of a fruitful branch, so cleansing itself is pictured as making room for fruit.
THE MEANING
You are already clean through the word spoken to you. Cleanness here carries the image of pruning: what obstructs fruit is cleared away through the spoken word. The verse names this as a present condition in you, not a status still waiting to be earned.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that you must first make yourself clean before the word can meet you. The verse says you are already clean through what has been spoken to you.
THE ROOT
καθαροί
katharoi
GROWS FROM
καθαρ
kathar
Clean, clear, pure.
καθαροί (katharoi, clean) belongs to the same word-family as καθαίρει (kathairei, prunes/cleanses), the verb used for the fruitful branch in the preceding verse. What English presents as separate ideas, being clean and being pruned, shares one Greek word-family: clearing opens the way for fruit.
ALSO GROWS
kathairei: Prunes; cleanses.
καθαίρει
In John 15:2, this verb describes the fruitful branch being pruned, linking the branch’s clearing to the disciples being called clean here.
katharizō: To cleanse; to make clean.
καθαρίζω
This same-family verb presents cleanness as an act of clearing, not only a label.
THE PATTERN
The spoken word clears a life, and cleansing opens room for fruit.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,THE THREAD
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.The verb translated “purgeth” in John 15:2 is καθαίρει (kathairei, prunes/cleanses), from the same word-family as καθαροί (katharoi, clean) here. That shared root joins pruning and cleanness in one image: the spoken word clears the branch so it can bear more fruit.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us