What Does John 16:1 Mean in the King James?
These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
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
Jesus speaks ahead of the pressure because his words can keep a hard moment from becoming a trap.
THE MEANING
Jesus’s words reach you before the moment that could unsettle your footing. They keep that moment from becoming a snare that makes you fall away.
THE ROOT
σκανδαλισθῆτε
skandalisthēte
GROWS FROM
σκάνδαλ-
skandal-
A snare or stumbling block: something that catches a person and causes a fall.
“offended” in this verse is skandalisthēte. The Greek verb carries the sense of being caused to stumble, beyond offense as hurt feeling. Its word family evokes a trap, so Jesus speaks to preserve your footing when events could catch you and make you fall away.
ALSO GROWS
skandalizō: To cause to stumble or ensnare.
σκανδαλίζω
This verb names the falling that Jesus’s words are meant to prevent.
skandalon: A snare, trap, or stumbling block.
σκάνδαλον
This noun reveals the trap-like image beneath the English word “offended.”
THE PATTERN
An encounter with a person or word can steady someone or become a point of stumbling.
Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.THE THREAD
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.Matthew uses the same Greek word family for being caused to stumble, and locates the possible stumbling “in me.” John 16:1 shows why Jesus speaks beforehand: the encounter need not become a trap that takes your footing.
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