What Does 1 Corinthians 12:6 Mean?
There are portions of workings, but it is the same God who works all in all.
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
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.THE KEY
“Operations” and “worketh” share the same Greek word-family: the varied effects carry the imprint of the one who is at work.
THE MEANING
The different effects among you do not split their source: the same God is at work through them all. Variety belongs to the expression; the source remains one.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that different expressions must come from different sources: distinct workings can still share one source.
THE ROOT
ἐνεργημάτων
energēmatōn
GROWS FROM
ἐνεργ- (from ἐνεργέω, energeō; built on ἔργον, ergon)
To be at work, to be active, to bring about an effect; the base word ἔργον means work or deed.
“workings” in this verse is energēmatōn. The noun translated “operations” (ἐνεργημάτων, energēmatōn) and the word translated “worketh” (ἐνεργῶν, energōn) belong to the same word-family. The Greek repeats the ἐνεργ- stem, so the varied operations are themselves described as expressions of that same working.
ALSO GROWS
energēma: A working or the effect it produces.
ἐνέργημα
This singular form shows how an active working can appear as a distinct result.
energeia: Active operation or effective working.
ἐνέργεια
It keeps the emphasis on activity beneath the visible outcome.
ergon: A work or deed.
ἔργον
This base word makes the shared thread plain: the many effects are related to work itself.
THE PATTERN
Different forms of work or gift can issue from one divine source.
There are portions of gifts, but the same breath.And I have filled him with the breath of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of work.One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in you all.THE THREAD
But the one and the same breath works all these, portioning to each one as it wills.Here the distribution becomes explicit: one and the same Spirit works (ἐνεργεῖ, energei) through distinct gifts assigned to each. The verb comes from the same ἐνεργέω (energeō) family as “operations” and “worketh” in verse 6, joining varied expressions to one active source.
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