What Does 1 Timothy 5:20 Mean?
Expose those who miss the mark before all, so that the rest also may fear.
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
Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.THE KEY
The missing is exposed before everyone because the fear of those watching is part of the rebuke’s intended effect.
THE MEANING
The missing is named openly, with the rebuke placed in the sight of all. Those who watch are meant to feel fear; the verse does not soften that response into respect. You are facing accountability that reaches beyond the person being rebuked.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that correction concerns only the person confronted dissolves here: the bystanders’ fear is named as part of its purpose.
THE ROOT
ἁμαρτάνοντας
hamartanontas
GROWS FROM
ἁμαρτ-
hamart-
To miss, fail, or fall short.
“miss the mark” in this verse is hamartanontas. The word translated “sin” belongs to the Greek word family of missing or falling short. That root gives the verse a concrete shape: what is missing is exposed openly, and its exposure carries consequences for the whole group.
ALSO GROWS
hamartia: Missing, missing the mark.
ἁμαρτία
This noun names the same family of missing that the verse places under public rebuke.
hamartōlos: A sinner; one characterized by missing.
ἁμαρτωλός
The related word shows how the action of missing can describe a person, while this verse focuses on the action itself.
ἔλεγχε
elenche
GROWS FROM
ἐλεγχ-
elench-
To expose, bring to light, or convict through reproof.
“expose” in this verse is elenche. The Greek verb can carry the force of exposing something, not merely voicing disapproval. Here that exposure takes place “before all,” making the rebuke visible to the wider group.
ALSO GROWS
elenchos: Proof, evidence, or conviction.
ἔλεγχος
This related noun shows how reproof can make something evident, illuminating the public force of the rebuke.
elegmos: Reproof or correction.
ἐλεγμός
This related noun keeps the focus on correction that confronts what has been exposed.
φόβον
phobon
GROWS FROM
φοβ-
phob-
Fear; being afraid.
The stated response is fear itself. The verse says that those watching are meant to feel it, holding the force of public rebuke in plain view.
ALSO GROWS
phobeō: To fear or be afraid.
φοβέω
This verb gives the same fear as an experience, rather than an abstract idea.
phoberos: Fearsome; inspiring fear.
φοβερός
This related word shows the same root’s force as something that evokes fear in others.
THE PATTERN
Reproof brings hidden conduct into view, and that visibility reaches beyond the person being corrected.
And those who remain shall hear and respond, and fear, and shall not add again to do any such evil within you.But all things being exposed are made visible by the light, for whatever is made visible is light.But when I perceived that they did not walk straight according to the truth of the good news, I said to Peter before them all, If you, being a Jew, live as the nations live and not as the Jews do, why do you force the nations to live as the Jews do?THE THREAD
But all things being exposed are made visible by the light, for whatever is made visible is light.The word translated “reproved” comes from the same Greek word family as the “rebuke” here. Ephesians names what that reproof does: it makes things manifest, clarifying why this rebuke happens before everyone.
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