What Does John 4:17 Mean in the King James?

The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

John 4:17 · 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.

THE KEY

A true sentence does not need to contain the whole story to be true.

THE MEANING

The sentence you can speak now can be true without carrying every detail of your life. Jesus meets the words themselves and calls them well spoken; what remains can still be brought into view.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A truthful answer only counts if it tells the whole story.

THE ROOT

καλῶς

kalōs

GROWS FROM

καλός

kalos

Good, beautiful, fitting.

The adverb translated “well” comes from ⁨καλός⁩ (kalos, good, beautiful, fitting). Jesus affirms the answer as fittingly true as spoken, even though it does not yet encompass the whole story.

ALSO GROWS

kalos: Good, beautiful, or fitting.

καλός

This adjective supplies the quality carried by the adverb: her words are fittingly spoken.

kallos: Beauty.

κάλλος

This word from the same family gives “well said” a resonance of truth as fitting, not merely technically correct.

THE PATTERN

A truth that is named plainly can be affirmed before everything around it is disclosed.

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Psalm 51:6 · KJVTruth is already present within, even as hidden places remain open to knowledge.

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

John 1:47 · KJVJesus names what is true of Nathanael directly, recognizing the absence of guile.

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Hebrews 4:13 · KJVWhat is exposed to God’s sight can be named without concealment holding the whole story back.

THE THREAD

For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

John 4:18 · KJV

The Greek noun ⁨ἄνδρα⁩ (andra, man or husband) returns as ⁨ἄνδρας⁩ (andras, men or husbands) in the next verse. The same word holds her sentence in its exact truth, then distinguishes the five former husbands from the man she now has.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us