John 5:40 And ye will not come to me,

Spoken to: 

challengers

Jesus is accused of breaking the Sabbath and making himself a god by calling God his Father. The current topic is eternal life.

KJV: 

John 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

NIV : 

John 5:40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

LISTENERS HEARD: 

Also, you do not want to move towards me in order that you might keep living.

MY TAKE: 

Moving toward Jesus helps us maintain our life.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

An interesting verse because it explains the concept of "eternal life" used in John 5:39 as literally "keeping alive" or "maintaining life." This is consistent with the analysis on this page of the meaning of "eternal life."

It is interesting that the more recent NIV translation of this line corrects all the mistakes in the KJV, but then goes on to make more mistakes of its own.

Both translations, however, avoid the wordplay in the conjunction/adverb translated as "that" in the KJV and, more confusingly as "to" in the NIV. The Greek word has three possible meanings in this context.

  • It can mean means "in that place where" since it follows the preposition phrase "to me."  If we assume that moving toward Jesus is thought of as a place, the verse becomes: "And, you do not want to come towards me to that place where you might keep living."
  • However, the most common way Jesus uses this conjunction/adverb is to mean "because." This makes the verse mean "And, you do not want to come towards me because you might keep living." This indicates a fear of a continued life as a motivation.
  • Finally, the word can also mean "in order that," which means this verse "And, you do not want to come towards me in order that you might keep living." This makes "keep living" the result of coming toward Jesus. This is the meaning most English translations choose, translating it more commonly as "so that."

The word translated simply as "have" also has three possible meanings, 1) to "keep living," 2) to "maintain a life," or 3) to "have the means to live."

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

3
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "will" does not mean the future tense.
  • WP -- Wrongly Placed -- The word "not" doesn't appear here but before the verb "will."
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "come" is not an active verb but an infinitive, "to come."

# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

5
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "yet" should be something more like "and."
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "refuse" should be something more like "not want."
  • CW - Confusing Word -- The "to" does not capture the specific meaning of the word.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "might" needed from the form of the verb is not shown in the English translation.
  • WF - Wrong Form -  The "have" is not an infinitive but a subjunctive, "might have."

EACH WORD of KJV : 

And  -- The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis ("also"). In a series, it is can be translated as "not only...but also." After words implying sameness "as."

ye -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

will -- (CW) The Greek word translated as "will" expresses consent and even delight in doing something. It is not the same as the helper verb "will" in English. It means "to consent" and "to be resolved to a purpose." As a participle, it can mean "willingly" and "gladly." This is the active verb in the clause, not a helping verb like we have in English. It does not indicate the future tense of the next verb. This verb could either be in the present or simple past tense. 

not -- (WP) The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." It makes a negative statement of fact. Adding "really" to the sentence captures the same idea. When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. When it precedes other words, its force is limited to those words. This verb negates to "will" here not the "come."

come  -- (WF)  The word translated as "come" primarily means "to start out" but Christ usually uses it to mean "come" but not always. It indicates movement, especially its beginning, without indicating a direction toward or away from anything, so it works either as "start," "come," or "go," but it is more like our phrase "being underway." Our English word "show up" captures both the "start" and "come" ideas. See this article for more. The form of the verb is an infinitive "to come" or "to start."

to -- The word translated as "to" means "towards," "by reason of (for)," "before" both in time and place, "in the presence of," "against," and several other types of "before." With verbs of seeing it specifically means "towards."

me,-- "Me" is the regular first-person pronoun in Greek as the object of the verb or preposition.

that -- The word translated as "that" is an adverb "in that place," "there," "where," "when," or as a conjunction that starts a subordinate clause  "that," "when," "in order that" or "because."

ye -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

might -- This helping verb "might" indicates that the verb indicates a possibility. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

have-- The word translated as "have" means to "have," "possess," "maintain," "bear," "keep," "have means to do,"  "to have due to one," or "keep" and many specific uses.  Here the sense is could be either "keep living," "maintain a life," or "have the means to live."

life. -- The word translated as "life" means "living" but it also means "substance," "existence," and "property."Jesus uses it to mean the "existence" of physical life, spirit plus body. To learn more read this article on life eternal, For more on how Christ uses this word with other words about human existence (soul, heart, spirit, body, etc.), read this article.

EACH WORD of NIV : 

yet --  (WW) The Greek word translated as "yet" is used as the conjunction "and," but it also is used to add emphasis ("also").

you -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

refuse -- (WW) The two Greek word translated as "refuse" mean "not want." "Not wanting" something is not the same as "refusing" something. The Greek word translated as "not" is the Greek negative used to deny objective facts, not opinions. It means "no," "not," or"no truly." When a negative precedes the verb, it affects the whole clause. This verb negates to "will" here not the "come."  "The "want" verb expresses consent and even delight in doing something. It is not the same as the helper verb "will" in English. It means "to consent" and "to be resolved to a purpose."This is the active verb in the clause, not a helping verb like we have in English. It does not indicate the future tense of the next verb. This verb could either be in the present or simple past tense.

to -- This "to" is added because the infinitive form of the verb requires a "to" in English.

come  -- The word translated as "come" primarily means "to start out" but Christ usually uses it to mean "come" but not always. It indicates movement, especially its beginning, without indicating a direction toward or away from anything, so it works either as "start," "come," or "go," but it is more like our phrase "being underway." Our English word "show up" captures both the "start" and "come" ideas. See this article for more. The form of the verb is an infinitive "to come" or "to start."

to -- The word translated as "to" means "towards," "by reason of (for)," "before" both in time and place, "in the presence of," "against," and several other types of "before." With verbs of seeing it specifically means "towards."

me,-- "Me" is the regular first-person pronoun in Greek as the object of the verb or preposition.

to -- (CW)  The word translated as "to" is an adverb "in that place," "there," "where," "when," or as a conjunction that starts a subordinate clause  "that," "when," "in order that" or "because." Its use make the following verb look like it is another infinitive form when it isn't.

missing "should" or "might"-- (MW) A helping verb is necessary because the following verb is a verb of possibility, a subjunctive, something that "should" or "might" occur. The helping verb is not needed in a clause beginning with an "if" or a "when."

have-- (WF) The word translated as "have" means to "have," "possess," "bear," "keep close," "have means to do,"  "to have due to one," or "keep" and many specific uses. This is not an infinitive or an indicative verb, but a subjunctive indicating a possibility, "might have."

life. -- The word translated as "life" means "living" but it also means "substance," "existence," and "property."Jesus uses it to mean the "existence" of physical life, spirit plus body. To learn more read this article on life eternal, For more on how Christ uses this word with other words about human existence (soul, heart, spirit, body, etc.), read this article.

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

καὶ [1089 verses](conj/adv) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "also." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even," "also," and "just."

οὐ [269 verses](partic) "Not" is ou , the negative adverb for facts and statements, negating both single words and sentences.  The other negative adverb, μή applies to will and thought; οὐ denies, μή rejects; οὐ is absolute, μή relative; οὐ objective, μή subjective.

θέλετε [64 verses](2nd pl pres/imperf ind act) "Ye will" is thelo, which as a verb means "to be willing (of consent rather than desire)," "to wish," "to ordain," "to decree," "to be resolved to a purpose" "to maintain," "to hold," "to delight in, and "will (too express a future event with inanimate objects)." It is a prolonged form (only found in NT) of a verb that means "to be resolved to a purpose" so, in a sense, "to decide," and "to desire." As a participle, it means "being willing" or, adverbially, "willingly," and "gladly." In the Hebrew, "will" or "desire" is chaphets, which means "to delight in," "to take pleasure in," and "to be pleased with."

ἐλθεῖν [198 verses](aor inf act) "Come" is  erchomai, which means "to start," "to set out," "to come," "to go," and any kind of motion. It means both "to go" on a journey and "to arrive" at a place.

πρὸς [92 verses](prep)  "To" is from pros, which means "from (place)," "on the side of," "toward," "before," "in the presence of," "in the eyes of," "before (supplication, a judge, a witness)," "near" a time, "for" the moment, "proceeding from (for effects)," "dependent on," "derivable from," "agreeable," "in comparison with," "becoming," "like," "at the point of," "in addition to," "against," and "before."  It also means "dependent upon."

με  [49 verses](pron 1st sg masc acc) "Me" is eme, which is the objective first-person, objective, singular pronoun that means  "me."

ἵνα [134 verses](adv/conj) "That" is hina, which means "in that place," "there," "where," "when,"  but when beginning a phrase "that," "in order that," "when," and "because."

ζωήν,[42 verses] (noun sg fem acc) "Life" is zoe, which means "living," "substance," "property," "existence," and, incidentally, "the scum on milk." It has the sense of how we say "make a living" to mean property. Homer used it more to mean the opposite of death.

ἔχητε[181 verses] (2nd pl pres subj act) "Have"  -  - is echo, which means "to have," "to hold," "to possess," "to keep," "to have charge of," "to have due to one," "to maintain," "to hold fast," "to bear," "to carry," "to keep close," "to keep safe," and "to have means to do." In the aorist tense, "acquire," "get."

Wordplay: 

The use of the Greek conjunction translated as "that," "to," and "so that" gives the verse three possible meanings, one indicating a place, one indicating a fear, and another indicating a result. 

Front Page Date: 

Mar 8 2022