What Does John 7:9 Mean in the King James?
When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
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 hidden action here is remaining: Jesus keeps his place when someone else’s urgency asks him to move.
THE MEANING
Your remaining in a place can be a chosen action rather than an absence of movement. Jesus speaks and stays in Galilee; another person’s urgency does not set his next step.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The assumption that pressure to move makes delay a sign of fear or failure is undone here: Jesus remains after speaking, and the verse leaves room for a deliberate stay.
THE ROOT
ἔμεινεν
emeinen from menō
GROWS FROM
μεν- (men-, the stem of μένω)
Remain, stay, continue.
“Abode still” can sound like mere lack of movement, but the Greek word names a continuing presence: remaining is an action, not a blank. The same word family can name both remaining and a dwelling place, so staying can mean inhabiting a place rather than simply delaying departure.
ALSO GROWS
monē: A dwelling or place of remaining.
μονή
This related noun makes staying more than a pause: it can be presence that inhabits a place.
diaménō: Continue or remain through a span of time.
διαμένω
This compound retains the core sense of remaining; here, Jesus’s stay has duration rather than being an empty interval.
THE PATTERN
Staying can be part of movement when timing, rather than pressure, governs the next step.
When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.THE THREAD
When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.John uses the same Greek verb, ἔμεινεν (emeinen), “he remained,” when Jesus hears that Lazarus is sick and stays two more days. The repeated root makes remaining legible as part of the movement, not a pause outside it.
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