What Does John 20:21 Mean in the King James?
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I 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
Jesus speaks wholeness over his followers, then makes that wholeness part of what moves outward through the people he sends.
THE MEANING
The wholeness Jesus speaks accompanies his followers as they are sent; it is the ground from which they move. The reader is drawn into the same pattern: what comes from the Father through Jesus continues outward through those he sends.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Peace does not mean exemption from being sent; here, wholeness and outward movement belong together.
THE ROOT
ἀπέσταλκεν
apestalken
GROWS FROM
ἀποστέλλω (apostellō), from ἀπό + στέλλω
To send out or dispatch; to send someone forth with a commission.
“sent” in this verse is apestalken. The Greek uses apostellō for the Father sending Jesus, then a different verb, pempō, when Jesus says he sends the disciples. The words are distinct, but “as ... even so” carries the sending forward from Father to Jesus to his followers.
ALSO GROWS
apostolos: A sent one; a messenger.
ἀπόστολος
The sending gives the messenger a relation to the one who sends.
apostolē: A sending or commission.
ἀποστολή
It names the onward movement that the verse places in Jesus’ followers.
εἰρήνη
eirēnē
GROWS FROM
εἰρήνη
eirēnē
Wholeness, well-being, concord.
The peace Jesus speaks is wholeness, not merely a calm feeling. It is spoken before the sending, so the movement begins with wholeness given to the disciples.
ALSO GROWS
eirenopoios: Peacemaker.
εἰρηνοποιός
The word joins peace with the person who makes or carries it.
eirenopoieō: To make peace.
εἰρηνοποιέω
This branch shows peace as something that can be brought into relationships, fitting the outward movement of the verse.
THE PATTERN
The one who sends carries the sender’s presence forward through those who are sent.
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!THE THREAD
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.John 17:18 uses the same Greek verb, apostellō, for the Father sending Jesus and Jesus sending his followers. In John 20:21, Jesus shifts to pempō for sending the disciples, while the “as ... even so” pattern keeps the movement connected.
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