What Does John 6:15 Mean in the King James?
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
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 Greek verb for the crowd’s attempt to seize Jesus returns in John’s Gospel for the force no one can use to seize what belongs to him.
THE MEANING
The crowd wants to make Jesus king by taking hold of him, and he sees their demand turning kingship into possession. He withdraws alone, leaving their acclaim unable to define his rule. The verse shows you the difference between wanting a king and having authority over his kingship.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A crowd’s enthusiasm must mean it understands and can define Jesus’ kingship.
THE ROOT
ἁρπάζειν
harpazein
GROWS FROM
ἁρπάζω
harpazō
To snatch, seize, or carry off.
“take” in this verse is harpazein. The word carries the force of taking hold and carrying away, which makes the crowd’s proposed coronation an act of possession. The same Greek word appears in John 10:28, where no one can “pluck” the sheep from Jesus’ hand.
ALSO GROWS
harpagē: Plunder; seizure.
ἁρπαγή
This branch carries the same sense of forceful taking that shapes the crowd’s plan.
harpax: Robber; rapacious person.
ἅρπαξ
This branch shows the grasping quality carried by the word family.
THE PATTERN
A kingship imposed by human demand cannot define the king’s authority.
And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.THE THREAD
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.The verb behind the crowd’s plan here reappears as “pluck” in Jesus’ words about no one taking the sheep from his hand. The shared root sets the crowd’s forceful grasp against what cannot be seized from him.
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