What Does 2 Corinthians 1:16 Mean?
And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia to you, and from you to be sent on my way toward Judea.
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
And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.THE KEY
The Greek makes the Corinthians more than a stop: they are the ones who send him forward.
THE MEANING
Your movement has a relational shape: arrival, return, and being sent onward belong to one connected path. The people around you are not scenery; their support becomes part of the road ahead.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that your way forward is solely self-made: here, another community’s sending is part of the journey.
THE ROOT
προπεμφθῆναι
propemphthēnai
GROWS FROM
πέμπω
pempō
to send; with πρό (pro), to send ahead or forward
“to be brought on my way; to be sent forward” in this verse is propemphthēnai. The Corinthians are not merely where the route pauses; they actively send him onward. This sending verb gives “my way” a communal shape: the journey forward includes the people who help launch it.
ALSO GROWS
pempō: to send
πέμπω
The base verb names the sending carried forward in this verse’s longer form.
propempō: to send ahead; accompany someone on a journey
προπέμπω
This is the verb used here: sending someone forward can include the practical support and accompaniment of the journey.
ekpempō: to send out
ἐκπέμπω
This compound carries the same sending action outward, giving the shared act of sending a direction.
THE PATTERN
A journey becomes shared when others help send the traveler onward.
And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.And being sent on their way by the assembly, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, telling of the turning of the nations, and they made great joy for all the brethren.Who have borne witness to your love before the assembly, whom you will do well to send on their way in a manner that matches the weight of God.THE THREAD
And being sent on their way by the assembly, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, telling of the turning of the nations, and they made great joy for all the brethren.“Brought on their way” translates the same Greek sending verb as “to be brought on my way” here. In both verses, a community’s support becomes part of how the travelers move forward.
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