What Does 2 Corinthians 13:6 Mean?
But I hope that you will know that we do not fail the test.
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 I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.THE KEY
“Reprobates” means unapproved after testing, so the verse separates being tested from being rejected.
THE MEANING
The verse places you before a claim that can be recognized: the speaker expects you to know that those speaking are not disqualified. Here, trust is confident expectation, and knowing is recognition; scrutiny alone does not settle the verdict. What matters is whether examination finds the work approved.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being examined does not mean you have already failed; the test can reveal approval.
THE ROOT
ἀδόκιμοι
adokimoi
GROWS FROM
δοκιμ-
dokim-
To test or examine for genuineness and fitness; with the negating prefix ἀ-, not approved after testing.
“fail the test” in this verse is adokimoi. Beneath “reprobates” lies the verdict of a test: something has not been approved or proven fit. The verse says this examination can make their standing as not disqualified knowable.
ALSO GROWS
dokimazō: To test, examine, or prove.
δοκιμάζω
It names the process that makes approval visible, the idea carried inside “reprobates.”
dokimos: Approved or proven genuine.
δόκιμος
Its positive form shows the other possible verdict of examination: approval.
γνώσεσθε
gnōsesthe
GROWS FROM
γινωσκ-
ginōsk-
To know, recognize, or perceive through acquaintance.
This is a future assurance of recognition: you come to know what is before you, rather than merely repeating a claim. That recognition is the destination of the speaker’s expectation.
ALSO GROWS
gnōsis: Knowledge or knowing.
γνῶσις
It carries the same knowing into the noun form, showing that recognition itself is central to the verse.
gnōstos: Known or familiar.
γνωστός
It describes what has become recognizable, matching the verse’s expectation that their standing will be known.
THE PATTERN
Examination reveals whether what is presented is approved and genuine.
Examine me, O LORD, and test me; refine my kidneys and my heart.Do not take the shape of this age, but be reshaped by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test what is the good, well-pleasing, and complete will of God.Test everything, and hold fast to what is good.THE THREAD
But I bruise my body and lead it into slavery, lest by any means, after I have heralded to others, I myself should be rejected.“Castaway” is the same Greek word, ἀδόκιμος (adokimos), rendered “reprobates” here. Both verses turn on the verdict of examination: whether someone is approved or disqualified.
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