What Does John 5:24 Mean in the King James?
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
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
Hearing and trusting mark a crossing already completed: the one addressed already stands on the life side of death.
THE MEANING
You hear this word and trust the One who sends; the life of the ages is already yours. The crossing from death into life is complete and its result stands now, so condemnation is not the verdict awaiting you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Life begins only after physical death, and condemnation remains the verdict waiting to be decided.
THE ROOT
μεταβέβηκεν
metabebēken
GROWS FROM
βαίνω (bainō; stem βαιν-)
to go, step, or move onward
“passed” in this verse is metabebēken. The perfect form holds a completed crossing together with its present result: the move has happened, and the one addressed now stands in life.
ALSO GROWS
basis: step, footing
βάσις
This related noun makes the root’s movement concrete as a step or footing.
bēma: step, raised platform
βῆμα
This word from the same verbal family preserves the sense of taking a step; here the verb names a crossing from death into life.
metabainō: cross over, pass from one place or state to another
μεταβαίνω
This is the verb’s present-tense form and makes the boundary-crossing in the verse explicit.
πιστεύων
pisteuōn
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
trust, reliance; placing one’s weight on what is trusted
The word describes trust directed toward the One who sent Jesus. Its word-family connects that reliance with steadiness, giving “believeth” the feel of weight placed on someone trustworthy.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: trust, reliance
πίστις
This noun names the trust that the verse places in the sender.
pistos: firm, steady; trustworthy
πιστός
The related adjective shows the steadiness associated with the trust expressed here.
αἰώνιον
aiōnion
GROWS FROM
αἰών
aiōn
an age, a span or era
The word describes life belonging to the age or ages. It opens “everlasting life” as the life of the ages, with the emphasis on the kind and order of life as well as its duration.
ALSO GROWS
aiōn: age, era
αἰών
This is the noun at the root of the adjective translated “everlasting.”
aiōnes: ages
αἰῶνες
The plural form brings out the phrase’s sense of life belonging to the ages.
THE PATTERN
Life is present wherever a person hears and trusts the giver of life.
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.THE THREAD
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.John uses the same Greek verb for “have passed” here and in John 5:24. In both verses the crossing is completed and its life is present now.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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