What Does 1 Timothy 4:14 Mean?
Do not let slip the gift of favor that is in you, which was given to you through prophesying, with the placing of hands by the council of elders.
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
Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.THE KEY
The gift within you is favor taking form, received through prophetic speech and the laying on of hands.
THE MEANING
The capacity within you is a received expression of favor, and its presence is not erased when it is neglected. Prophetic speech and the elders’ hands mark a giving that is both inward and shared.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a gift is real only while you are displaying it: the verse names something already in you, even when it is neglected.
THE ROOT
χάρισμα
charisma
GROWS FROM
χαρ-
char-
favor, gracious giving
“gift of favor” in this verse is charisma. The word χάρισμα (charisma, gift) is built on the language of χάρις (charis, favor). Its name holds capacity and favor together: what is in you is a received expression of gracious giving.
ALSO GROWS
charis: Favor or gracious kindness.
χάρις
This is the word-family beneath χάρισμα, keeping favor inside the meaning of the gift.
charizomai: To grant or give as an act of favor.
χαρίζομαι
This branch makes the gift’s received quality visible: it comes as favor given.
ἀμέλει
amelei
GROWS FROM
μελ-
mel-
care, concern
The word for neglect is formed with a negative from the language of care and concern. The gift can remain present within you while being left unattended.
ALSO GROWS
melō: To be a care or concern.
μέλω
This root shows that neglect is a withdrawal of care from something that matters.
epimeleomai: To take care of or attend to someone or something.
ἐπιμελέομαι
This related word gives the positive side of the contrast: attention can meet what is already present.
THE PATTERN
A capacity received within a person becomes visible through its exercise and service to others.
And I have filled him with the breath of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of work.We have gifts that differ according to the favor given to us. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to trust.As each has received a gift, serve it to one another as good stewards of the many-colored favor of God.THE THREAD
For this reason I remind you to fan back into flame the favor of God, which is in you through the placing of my hands upon you.The same Greek word χάρισμα (charisma, gift) appears in both verses, along with the phrase “which is in thee.” This verse names the gift as given; the connected verse shows it as already present and capable of being stirred up.
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