What Does 1 Corinthians 4:3 Mean?
But it is smallest to me that I should be judged by you, or by a human day. Nor do I even judge myself.
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
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.THE KEY
The Greek uses the same verb for being examined by others and examining yourself, then calls both small.
THE MEANING
Other people’s scrutiny can feel decisive, and your own verdict can feel even more convincing; this verse places both within human limits. Your worth is not fully measured by either public judgment or self-examination.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that a verdict from other people, or from your own inner voice, must be the final truth about you.
THE ROOT
ἀνακρίνω
anakrinō
GROWS FROM
κρίνω
krinō
To distinguish, decide, or judge.
The KJV renders the same Greek verb as “judged” and “judge”: being examined by others and examining yourself are the same action turned outward and inward. The verse places both forms of human scrutiny within a small measure.
ALSO GROWS
krisis: judgment, decision
κρίσις
It names the judgment that follows an act of deciding, giving weight to the verdict this verse refuses to make ultimate.
kritēs: judge, one who decides
κριτής
It names the person doing the judging and brings the verse’s focus onto who has authority to assess a life.
krima: judgment, verdict
κρίμα
It names the resulting verdict, clarifying that human examination and a final measure are not the same thing.
THE PATTERN
Human scrutiny is partial; a person’s full measure rests with the one who sees and holds them.
But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will be held upright, for God is able to make him stand.For I see nothing alongside myself, yet in this I have not been aligned. The one who judges me is the Lord.THE THREAD
Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will be held upright, for God is able to make him stand.Romans uses κρίνεις (krineis, “you judge”), from the same root κρίνω (krinō, “judge”) that underlies the verb in 1 Corinthians 4:3. It places a person’s standing with their own master, opening the current verse’s claim that human examination has limited reach.
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