What Does 1 Corinthians 15:25 Mean?
For he must govern until he sets all his enemies under his feet.
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
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.THE KEY
Christ’s reign is already underway while enemies remain, and it continues until every enemy is beneath his feet.
THE MEANING
The reigning one is active through the present interval: opposition remains real, yet it does not hold the final position. The verse gives that opposition an endpoint beneath his feet.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that visible opposition means the reign is absent or has failed. Here, the reign continues through the very interval in which opposition is brought underfoot.
THE ROOT
θῇ
thē
GROWS FROM
τίθημι
tithēmi
to put, set, or place
“sets” in this verse is thē. The Greek verb rendered “put” belongs to the same word family rendered “lay down” elsewhere. The image is of opposition being assigned a place beneath the reigning one’s feet.
ALSO GROWS
tithēmi: To place or set down; in John 10:11, the same verb describes laying down one’s life.
τίθημι
The shared verb links setting enemies beneath his feet with laying down a life: both are acts of placing, with the surrounding words showing what is placed and where.
apotithēmi: To put away or lay aside; used in Hebrews 12:1 for laying aside every weight.
ἀποτίθημι
This related form shows that the family of words for placing can also describe removal by putting something aside.
βασιλεύειν
basileuein
GROWS FROM
βασιλευ-
basileu-
king; kingly rule
“govern” in this verse is basileuein. The verb belongs to the same word family as “king” and “kingdom”: this is kingship in action, not only a title. Its continuing rule lasts through the subjection of every enemy.
ALSO GROWS
basileus: A king, the one who rules.
βασιλεύς
The verb “reign” expresses the active rule of the king named by this family.
basileia: A kingdom or the exercise of royal rule.
βασιλεία
This branch holds together the ruler’s authority and the realm or governance that authority orders.
ἐχθρούς
echthrous
GROWS FROM
ἐχθρ-
echthr-
hostile; adversarial
“enemies” in this verse is echthrous. The word for an enemy shares its root with the word for enmity, holding the hostile person and the hostility together. The verse names opposition plainly and places it beneath the reign; it does not call it unreal.
ALSO GROWS
echthros: An enemy or hostile one.
ἐχθρός
This is the singular form of the word family used for the enemies in the verse.
echthra: Hostility or enmity, as in Romans 8:7.
ἔχθρα
The related noun makes the connection between an enemy and the hostility that marks the opposition.
THE PATTERN
The reigning authority remains active through the interval in which opposition is brought beneath its rule.
A Psalm of David. The LORD says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I set your enemies as a footstool for your feet.For what remains, waiting until his enemies are set as a footstool beneath his feet.And he set all things under his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the assembly.THE THREAD
For what remains, waiting until his enemies are set as a footstool beneath his feet.The verb translated “put” here and “be made” there comes from τίθημι (tithēmi), meaning “to set or place.” The shared root sharpens the image: the enemies are the very ones being placed beneath the reigning one’s feet.
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