What Does John 8:50 Mean in the King James?
And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.
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
Jesus refuses to award himself honor; the one who seeks is also the judge.
THE MEANING
Your worth does not become real through self-promotion or disappear when you stop defending it. Jesus places honor beyond self-award: the one who seeks also judges, so recognition rests with a judge whose verdict is not self-authored. The verse speaks into the tension between being misjudged and trying to secure your own standing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that if you do not claim your own honor, no one will see you. This verse places the final seeking and judgment beyond the self.
THE ROOT
ζητῶ
zētō
GROWS FROM
ζητ-
To seek, pursue, or desire.
“seek / seeketh” in this verse is zētō. The verse uses the same Greek word when Jesus says he does not seek his own honor and when it describes the one who seeks and judges. The paired actions belong to one agent: the pursuit and the verdict are joined.
ALSO GROWS
zēteō: To seek, look for, or desire.
ζητέω
This is the verb behind both instances of “seek,” linking Jesus’ refusal to the other one’s pursuit.
ekzēteō: To seek out or search diligently.
ἐκζητέω
The intensified form shows how this root can describe a sustained search.
zētēsis: An inquiry or dispute.
ζήτησις
The same word family can name the search as a question under examination.
δόξα
doxa
GROWS FROM
δοκ- / δοξ-
Weight, honor, or recognized standing; the word family is associated with thinking, seeming, and being regarded.
“glory” in this verse is doxa. The word carries the sense of honor that has weight because it is recognized. Jesus’ refusal is not self-erasure: he leaves the weight of his standing with the one who seeks and judges.
ALSO GROWS
dokeō: To think, seem, or hold an opinion.
δοκέω
It points to the word family’s connection with how someone is regarded.
doxazō: To honor or glorify.
δοξάζω
This verb names the act of giving weight or recognition.
doxa: Honor, reputation, splendor; weight.
δόξα
The word at the center of the verse names the standing Jesus does not claim for himself.
THE PATTERN
Honor is not secured by self-praise; its true measure belongs to the one who sees and judges.
It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.THE THREAD
He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.John 7:18 repeats ζητέω (zēteō), the same root behind “seek” and “seeketh” here, and makes the direction of the pursuit explicit. It opens John 8:50 further: the question is whose honor is sought, while the seeker and judge remains the same agent.
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