What Does John 8:49 Mean in the King James?
Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.
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 shared root of “honour” and “dishonour” makes the contradiction audible: they dishonor the one whose answer is to honor the Father.
THE MEANING
Jesus places the accusation beside a deeper measure: he honors the Father, while the listeners dishonor him. The same tension lives wherever reverence for God is claimed while contempt is directed at the one who honors him. Honor is relational here; it cannot be reduced to respectful words about God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
I can honor the Father while dishonoring the one who honors him.
THE ROOT
τιμῶ
timō
GROWS FROM
τιμ-
tim-
The stem carries the idea of value or worth, expressed as honor.
“honour / dishonour” in this verse is timō. English gives two opposing verbs, but Greek repeats one value-family: Jesus says he honors the Father (τιμῶ, timō), while the listeners dishonor him (ἀτιμάζετε, atimazete). The shared stem makes their contradiction audible: the one honoring the Father is treated without honor.
ALSO GROWS
timē: Value, price, honor
τιμή
The same word-family links honor with the worth assigned to someone, giving the contrast more force than a mere gesture of politeness.
timaō: To value or honor
τιμάω
This verb names the regard Jesus says he gives the Father.
atimazō: To dishonor or treat without honor
ἀτιμάζω
The negative form names what the listeners do to Jesus, using the same stem as the honor he gives the Father.
THE PATTERN
Honor for a source is made visible in how the one related to that source is treated.
That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.THE THREAD
That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.John 5:23 repeats the same honor-root for the Father and the Son, making explicit the relational implication carried in this verse. Honor cannot be preserved for the Father while withheld from the Son.
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