What Does John 6:28 Mean in the King James?
Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
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 same Greek work-word moves from “work” to “works,” and Jesus’ answer turns the search for many deeds into one work: trust in the one sent.
THE MEANING
The question names a familiar pressure: that you must find the right action to qualify for God’s work. Jesus answers by calling trust in the one God sends the work of God. The movement is from trying to produce divine work to receiving the one through whom it is present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that access to God’s work comes by accumulating the correct deeds; Jesus replaces the plural output with one trusting response.
THE ROOT
ἐργαζώμεθα
ergazōmetha
GROWS FROM
ἐργ-
erg-
Work, labor, or deed: activity and what that activity produces.
“work / works” in this verse is ergazōmetha. The Greek repeats one word-family: ἐργαζώμεθα (ergazōmetha, “we might work”) with ἔργα (erga, “works”). That repetition makes their question sound like a search for how to produce God’s activity; in the next verse Jesus keeps ἔργον (ergon, “work”) singular and names trust in the sent one as that work.
ALSO GROWS
ergon: Work, deed, or result.
ἔργον
Jesus uses the singular form in the answer, turning the question about many works toward one work.
ergazomai: To work, labor, or accomplish.
ἐργάζομαι
This verb shares the root with “works,” binding the action they seek to the deeds they imagine producing.
THE PATTERN
God’s work is the source of human action, and trust is how that work is received.
A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.THE THREAD
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.The same root noun returns as ἔργον (ergon, “work”), now singular, and Jesus identifies it with believing in the one sent. The many “works” sought as output become one relational act of trust.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us