What Does 1 Corinthians 1:2 Mean?
To the assembly of God dwelling in Corinth, to those set apart in Jesus the Anointed One, called to be set-apart ones, with all who call upon the nature of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One in every place, both theirs and ours.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:THE KEY
The Greek calls the same people set apart twice, first as “sanctified,” then as “saints”, so the verse names a shared identity, not a spiritual rank.
THE MEANING
This verse addresses you as part of a people set apart in Jesus, alongside everyone everywhere who calls on his name, his nature. This identity spans places and belongs to an assembly, not a private class.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that sainthood is a rare title reserved for a spiritual elite: here, the whole set-apart assembly is called saints, and the circle extends to all who call on Jesus’ name everywhere.
THE ROOT
ἡγιασμένοις
hēgiasmenois
GROWS FROM
ἁγ- (hag-), the shared stem of ἁγιάζω (hagiazō) and ἅγιος (hagios)
Set apart; marked as belonging to God.
“set apart” in this verse is hēgiasmenois. The verse uses this word family again in “saints” (ἁγίοις, hagiois, set-apart ones). The same people are both sanctified and called saints, so set-apartness is a shared identity here, not a higher spiritual rank.
ALSO GROWS
hagiazō: Set apart or consecrate.
ἁγιάζω
This is the verb behind “sanctified,” showing that the identity is expressed as being set apart.
hagios: One who is set apart.
ἅγιος
This is the word rendered “saints” in the same verse, revealing the shared seed beneath both terms.
hagiasmos: The state or process of being set apart.
ἁγιασμός
This related noun makes visible the same set-apart pattern expressed by both “sanctified” and “saints.”
ὄνομα
onoma
GROWS FROM
ὀνοματ-
onomat-
Name; the identity or nature expressed by a name.
In this verse, calling on Jesus’ name means turning toward who he is as Lord, not merely pronouncing a label. That shared nature joins people who are in every place.
ALSO GROWS
onomazō: To name or identify someone.
ὀνομάζω
It shows how a name identifies the person’s nature and place in a relationship.
onomastos: Named, known by name, or renowned.
ὀνομαστός
It carries the link between a name and the identity by which someone is known.
κλητοῖς
klētois
GROWS FROM
καλέω
kaleō
To call, summon, or invite.
The Greek places “called” directly beside “saints” (ἁγίοις, hagiois, set-apart ones), without a separate word for “to be.” This call-family also gives ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia, assembly), making the identity communal rather than private.
ALSO GROWS
klēsis: A call, summons, or invitation.
κλῆσις
It shows the calling as an act that draws people into a shared identity.
ekklēsia: An assembly of people gathered together.
ἐκκλησία
This is the word rendered “church” in the verse: the called people form an assembly.
THE PATTERN
The Lord’s name gathers a set-apart people across every place, without reserving the call for one group.
And it will be that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will slip free, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors whom the LORD calls.And it will come to pass that whoever calls on the nature of the LORD will be delivered.For everyone who calls upon the nature of the LORD will be delivered.THE THREAD
And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were set apart, but you were aligned, in the nature of the Lord Jesus and in the breath of our God.The same Greek set-apart verb appears here as “sanctified” (ἡγιάσθητε, hēgiasthēte, set apart). In 1:2 it names the people who call on Jesus’ nature; here that identity stands beside being washed and aligned in Jesus’ name.
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