What Does John 5:5 Mean in the King James?
And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
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
Thirty-eight years measures the infirmity, not the man.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two things in view at once: a man, and an infirmity that has lasted thirty-eight years. A long-standing weakness can be named truthfully without becoming the whole name of the one who bears it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a weakness lasting for years has become the whole identity of the one who carries it.
THE ROOT
ἀσθένεια
astheneia
GROWS FROM
σθεν- (from σθένος, sthenos)
σθένος (sthenos) means strength, force, or vigor; the prefix ἀ- marks its absence.
“infirmity” in this verse is astheneia. The Greek word carries the sense of strength being absent, as well as illness or weakness. Its word family describes both a condition and the experience of being weak, so the verse names what has persisted without making it the man’s whole identity.
ALSO GROWS
asthenēs: Weak, without strength
ἀσθενής
This related adjective makes the same absence of strength visible in the word family.
astheneō: To be weak or ill
ἀσθενέω
The related verb describes weakness as a condition someone experiences, rather than as the person’s entire nature.
THE PATTERN
Scripture names weakness plainly while placing it within a larger story of care or power.
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.THE THREAD
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.The Greek word translated “infirmities” belongs to the same word family as the infirmity named in John 5:5. There, its duration is thirty-eight years; here, weakness is spoken of alongside power.
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