Passage

John 20.22

Book: John · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

20. And when he had said this, he showed unto them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. 21. Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

22. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit:

whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. 24. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. (John 20:20-24, ASV)

WEB

20. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord. 21. Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”

22. When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit!

If you forgive anyone’s sins, they have been forgiven them. If you retain anyone’s sins, they have been retained.” 24. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, wasn’t with them when Jesus came. (John 20:20-24, WEB)

KJV

20. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

22. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. 24. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. (John 20:20-24, KJV)

YLT

20. and this having said, he shewed them his hands and side; the disciples, therefore, rejoiced, having seen the Lord. 21. Jesus, therefore, said to them again, 'Peace to you; according as the Father hath sent me, I also send you;'

22. and this having said, he breathed on [them], and saith to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit;

if of any ye may loose the sins, they are loosed to them; if of any ye may retain, they have been retained.' 24. And Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came; (John 20:20-24, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the risen Jesus
Audience: the disciples, gathered behind shut doors
Location: Jerusalem, on the evening of the first day of the week
Time period: the evening of the resurrection

Theological reading

He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. The verse raises an obvious question: what is the relationship between this giving of the Spirit and the outpouring at Pentecost some fifty days later in Acts?

The verb is the first datum. Enephysesen, he breathed into or upon, is rare, and it is the verb the Septuagint uses at Genesis 2:7 when God breathes the breath of life into the man, and again at Ezekiel 37:9 in the valley of dry bones. John is almost certainly invoking creation and new creation deliberately, which fits his opening chapter and its in the beginning.

The main proposals are three and none is without difficulty. Some read this as a symbolic promise or acted parable anticipating Pentecost, which fits the Lukan chronology but sits awkwardly with the plain imperative receive. Some read it as a genuine but partial impartation for the immediate commission, distinct from the later empowering for public mission. Some, particularly in the tradition that reads John as having his own Pentecost, take it as John's account of the same theological reality Luke narrates differently, with the two writers shaping a shared conviction to their own purposes.

The commission attached to the breathing constrains the options somewhat. What immediately follows concerns the forgiving and retaining of sins, so whatever is given here is given for that task, which suggests a functional and commissioning emphasis rather than a general account of how the Spirit comes to believers.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G4151 - pneuma, pneuma, Strong's G4151
G3004 - lego, lego, Strong's G3004

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Faustina Kowalska, via John 20.19-29

Guides:

Ris3n Arguments, via John 20.19-29

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.