John 20:20
# John 20:20

John 20:20 is the twentieth verse of the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament. It contains the reaction the disciples to Jesus' first appearance after his resurrection and Jesus showing his hands and his side.

## Content

The original Koine Greek, according to the Textus Receptus, reads:

    καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ἔδειξεν αὐτοῖς τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τὴν πλευρὰν αὐτοῦ ἐχάρησαν οὖν οἱ μαθηταὶ ἰδόντες τὸν κύριον

In the King James Version of the Bible it is translated as:

    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.

The modern World English Bible translates the passage as:

    When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord.

For a collection of other versions see BibleHub John 20:20

## Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this verse in Greek are:

* Papyrus 5 (c. 250)
* Codex Vaticanus (AD 325–350)
* Codex Sinaiticus (330-360)
* Codex Bezae (c. 400)
* Codex Alexandrinus (400-440)

## Analysis

The account of Jesus' first appearance in the Gospel of John (20:19-23; 21:13) shows similarity to the account in the Gospel of Luke (24:36–49), that it happened in Jerusalem in the evening of his resurrection from the dead.

"His hands and his side" are to identify the marks of crucifixion (Luke 24:39 adds his feet); Jesus' hands had been nailed to the cross and his side pierced (John 19:34). The identification, together with the greeting caused the rapid switch of the disciples' emotion from "fear" (verse 19) to "joy"/"glad" (verse 20).

