What Does 1 Corinthians 16:10 Mean?
Now if Timothy comes, see that he is with you without fear, for he works the work of the Lord, as I also do.
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
Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do.THE KEY
Timothy is already doing the Lord’s work, so the community’s task is to receive him in a way that leaves no room for fear.
THE MEANING
You are to make room for Timothy to be with you without fear. He works the Lord’s work, as Paul does, so his labor stands alongside the speaker’s. His presence and his work are held together: the way you receive him is part of the shared labor.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the idea that a worker must bear the fear of entering alone: the community is charged with ensuring Timothy can be with them without fear.
THE ROOT
ἀφόβως
aphobōs
GROWS FROM
φοβ-
phob-
Fear or alarm; the initial ἀ- (a-, “without”) negates it in this word.
“without fear” in this verse is aphobōs. The word names Timothy’s presence among you as free of fear, while the instruction addresses the people receiving him. English conveys the result, but the word’s form draws attention to the fearless quality of his being there.
ALSO GROWS
phobos: fear, alarm
φόβος
This noun names the fear absent from Timothy’s presence.
phobeō: fear, be afraid
φοβέω
The verb shares the same root and shows the state that the verse’s “without fear” excludes.
ἐργάζεται τὸ ἔργον
ergazetai to ergon
GROWS FROM
ἐργ-
erg-
Work, action, or deed.
The Greek places a verb and noun from the same word family together: Timothy “works the work” of the Lord. The shared root links his action to the work itself, and “as I also do” places his labor alongside Paul’s.
ALSO GROWS
ergon: work, deed
ἔργον
This noun is the “work” Timothy carries out.
ergazomai: work, labor
ἐργάζομαι
This verb is the same family as the noun translated “work,” joining the act to its object.
ergatēs: worker, laborer
ἐργάτης
This related word names the person engaged in the same kind of labor.
Τιμόθεος
Timotheos
GROWS FROM
τιμή + θεός (timē + theos)
Honor + God; the name is commonly glossed “honoring God.”
“Timotheus” in this verse is Timotheos. The name carries the sense of honoring God, and the verse depicts its bearer at work in the Lord’s labor. The name’s sense and the action align in the line without replacing what it says about Timothy.
ALSO GROWS
timē: honor, esteem
τιμή
This is the honor element in Timothy’s name.
theos: God
θεός
This is the God element in Timothy’s name.
THE PATTERN
The Lord’s work is shared, and those who carry it are received with concrete support.
"I will come down and speak with you there, and I will draw off some of the breath upon you and set it upon them; and they will lift the load of the people with you, so that you do not lift it alone."That you receive her in the Lord, as is worthy of the set-apart ones, and that you stand beside her in whatever matter she has need of you, for she has stood before many, and before me as well.So then, my beloved brothers, be steady, unmoved, always overflowing in the work of the Lord, seeing that your toil is not empty in the Lord.THE THREAD
So then, my beloved brothers, be steady, unmoved, always overflowing in the work of the Lord, seeing that your toil is not empty in the Lord.This verse uses the same Greek word ἔργον (ergon, work) in “the work of the Lord,” linking Timothy’s labor to the work Paul names here. The later verse widens that shared labor to the whole community and says it is not in vain.
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