What Does 1 Corinthians 6:12 Mean?
All things stand open to me, but not all things bring together. All things stand open to me, but I will not be brought under the power of anyone.
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
All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.THE KEY
In Greek, “lawful” and “brought under power” belong to the same word family: what is permitted can become what rules.
THE MEANING
What is permitted is not automatically beneficial, and permission does not guarantee freedom. A choice can begin as something you do and become something that directs you. The verse names freedom as not being brought under the power of anything.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is: “If I am allowed to choose it, it cannot take control of me.”
THE ROOT
ἔξεστιν
exestin
GROWS FROM
ἐξουσία (exousia), in the word family of ἔξεστιν (exestin)
permission, right, authority, the sphere in which something is possible or permitted
“stand open” in this verse is exestin. The Greek word for what is “lawful” is related to the word family behind “brought under the power.” The echo holds permission and mastery together: something may be within reach and still become the force that directs the chooser.
ALSO GROWS
exestin: It is permitted; it is possible.
ἔξεστιν
This is the word behind “lawful,” describing what lies within the speaker’s permission.
exousiazō: Exercise authority over; control.
ἐξουσιάζω
This related verb appears in “brought under the power,” shifting the question from what can be chosen to what can rule the chooser.
συμφέρει
sympherei
GROWS FROM
φέρω
pherō
carry, bring
“bring together” in this verse is sympherei. “Expedient” can sound like mere convenience, but the Greek word pictures what an action brings together or contributes toward. The verse weighs permission by what a choice carries into the life it shapes.
ALSO GROWS
sympherō: Bring together; be advantageous or beneficial.
συμφέρω
This is the verb behind “expedient,” asking whether an action contributes to well-being.
prospherō: Bring toward; present or offer.
προσφέρω
Its carrying image shows how an action can bring something toward an outcome.
THE PATTERN
What a person gives themselves to can gain authority over them, even when the choice begins as permitted.
A city broken through, with no wall, is a man who has no hold on his breath.No one can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will hold fast to one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.Do you not know that to the one you set yourselves beside as servants for hearing and response, his servants you are, the one you hear and respond to; whether of falling short unto death, or of hearing and response unto alignment?THE THREAD
The wife does not rule over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not rule over his own body, but the wife does.The verb translated “hath power” comes from the same Greek word family as “brought under the power” here. In this verse it describes mutual authority over the body, making the question concrete: freedom concerns not only what a person can do, but what is allowed to rule them.
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