What Does John 20:1 Mean in the King James?

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

John 20:1 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The stone is already lifted while it is still dark: the opening comes before Mary can see what it means.

THE MEANING

You can encounter an opening before you can name its meaning. Darkness remains around Mary, yet the stone is already removed; obscurity and change are present at once. The sign arrives before its explanation.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The darkness around you does not prove that nothing has changed; the stone is already gone before dawn.

THE ROOT

ἦρται

ērtai from airō

GROWS FROM

αἴρω

airō

To lift, take up, carry, or remove.

English “taken away” can sound like simple disappearance, but the Greek verb also carries the image of lifting and carrying something from its place. Its completed form presents the stone as already lifted away while it is still dark.

ALSO GROWS

taketh away: Carries away or removes.

The same verb describes the Lamb of God taking away the world’s sin, giving the stone’s removal a release-shaped resonance.

take up: Lift and carry an object.

The same verb is used when the healed man takes up his bed; it keeps the image of something lifted from where it had been.

THE PATTERN

An opening can already be made while the surrounding darkness remains.

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

Exodus 14:21 · KJVThe waters divide during the night, opening a way before the darkness has passed.

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Psalm 30:5 · KJVThe night holds the weeping, yet it does not prevent morning joy from coming.

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

John 1:5 · KJVLight is already shining within the darkness, whether or not the darkness recognizes it.

THE THREAD

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 1:29 · KJV

The verb for the stone being “taken away” comes from ⁨αἴρω⁩ (airō), the same verb rendered “taketh away” here. In both verses, something is carried out of its place; the shared word connects the opened tomb with release.

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