John 14:1-2a, A state of remaining

Ἰωάννην 14·1 Μὴ ταρασσέσθω ὑμῶν ἡ καρδία· πιστεύετε εἰς τὸν θεὸν καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ πιστεύετε.  2 ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ πατρός μου μοναὶ πολλαί εἰσιν· 

Do not let your heart be troubled.  You believe in God, believe in me also.  There are many places to live in my father’s house.  John 14: 1-2a

μοναὶ πολλαί (many living places) or (rooms)

For those of us who grew up on the KJV of the Bible, we remember this to be “In my father’s house, there are many mansions”.  That actually puts a touch of splendor on this text that I like.  When we think of a mansion, we think of a huge house, so that actually is a good translation here.

I love John. He seems to like using word plays in his style of writing.  That keeps the passages interesting and really brings out exactly what he is trying to say.  You have to love that!

μοναὶ is from the word μονή.  As you would expect, it means rooms or dwelling places.  Another definition (actually the number one definition) is “a state of remaining in an area” or “staying”.  Is there any doubt as to why John used this word?  He uses it again in verse 23.  In that verse, he drives home (pun intended) what he is trying to describe in this passage.  There is plenty of room in heaven and once we get there, we will be in a “state of of remaining” in that house.  Why would we want to leave?  We wouldn’t!