What Does John 6:60 Mean in the King James?
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
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 saying can reach the ear and still feel too hard to receive.
THE MEANING
This verse names the gap between hearing words and being able to take them in. When a teaching feels harsh or difficult to bear, hearing it does not mean it has become welcome or clear.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Hearing a teaching is not the same as receiving it; exposure alone does not guarantee understanding or acceptance.
THE ROOT
σκληρός
sklēros
GROWS FROM
σκληρ-
sklēr-
Hard, harsh, severe, or difficult to bear.
The word can describe more than an idea that is hard to understand: it can carry the sense of something harsh or hard to bear. Its word family also uses this hardness for a hardened response, revealing how difficulty can be felt inwardly.
ALSO GROWS
sklērynō: To harden or make stubborn.
σκληρύνω
The same word family describes a hardening response, adding the possibility of resistance to the sense of a hard saying.
sklērokardia: Hardness of heart.
σκληροκαρδία
This compound joins hardness with the heart, showing how the language can name an inner inability or unwillingness to receive.
ἀκούειν
akouein
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
akou-
To hear or listen; depending on context, the verb can also carry the sense of heeding.
“hear” in this verse is akouein. The question is not whether sound reaches the ear, the disciples have heard the saying. The verb leaves open the deeper question of whether what is heard can be heeded and received.
ALSO GROWS
hypakouō: To obey or heed.
ὑπακούω
This related verb connects hearing with a responsive act: listening can lead into heeding.
eisakouō: To hear attentively or hear favorably.
εἰσακούω
This related verb makes room for hearing that receives a request or message, beyond sound alone.
THE PATTERN
A word may reach the ear while remaining unreceived in the heart.
To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.THE THREAD
Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.John 8:43 uses the same verb ἀκούω (akouō, hear or listen) and the same noun λόγος (logos, word). It makes the tension in John 6:60 clearer: the sound can reach the listener while the word itself remains unreceived.
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