What Does John 20:25 Mean in the King James?
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
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 risen one is recognized through the body’s retained marks: the wounds are not outside the evidence but at its center.
THE MEANING
A report reaches you before the trust it asks for. Here, trust gathers around the body’s marked hands and wounded side, close enough to see and touch. The risen one is encountered with the wounds still visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that resurrection means the wounds must vanish before the risen one can be recognized.
THE ROOT
τύπον
týpon
GROWS FROM
τυπ-
typ-
To strike or impress; a mark left by a blow.
The word translated “print” is τύπος (týpos), an imprint or mark, and its word family also carries the sense of a pattern. The nail marks are traces of impact that remain visible on the body.
ALSO GROWS
týptō: Strike, hit
τύπτω
This verb names the impact that leaves an impression.
týpos: Imprint, mark, pattern, example
τύπος
The mark is both a trace of what happened and a shape by which the body is recognized.
πιστεύσω
pisteúsō
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust and reliance; the related adjective carries the sense of reliability or steadiness.
The verb translated “believe” belongs to the πίστις (pístis) word family of trust and reliance. Thomas ties that trust to a body he can see and touch, making the wounds part of what gives the report weight.
ALSO GROWS
pístis: Trust, reliance
πίστις
This noun names the trust Thomas says he cannot yet place in the report.
pistós: Reliable, trustworthy, steady
πιστός
The related adjective connects trust with what is regarded as dependable.
THE PATTERN
Recognition of the living one is carried by embodied, touchable witness.
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:THE THREAD
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.Verse 25 makes Thomas’s trust wait for sight and touch; this verse names trust that comes without seeing. Together, they hold both embodied encounter and trust beyond direct sight in view.
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