What Does 2 Corinthians 13:7 Mean?
Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should be seen as proven, but that you do what is beautiful, though we be as those who 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
Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.THE KEY
Doing good is the point; making the messenger appear approved is not.
THE MEANING
This prayer speaks over your life now: that you do no evil and do what is good, even when that does not make the speaker look approved. The speaker may appear to fail the test, while your good remains the thing being prayed for.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that your good only counts when it proves the person speaking for you is worthy.
THE ROOT
δόκιμοι
dokimoi
GROWS FROM
δοκιμ-
dokim-
To test, examine, or prove genuine.
“proven” in this verse is dokimoi. The verse sets δόκιμοι (dokimoi, “approved”) beside ἀδόκιμοι (adokimoi, “rejected as unfit”), the same root with a negating prefix. The speaker’s standing may fail while the hearer’s good remains the prayer’s aim.
ALSO GROWS
dokimazō: To test, examine, prove.
δοκιμάζω
This branch shows that approval carries the sense of being examined and found genuine, not merely looking approved.
dokimē: Proof; tested character.
δοκιμή
The focus falls on what holds up under testing, rather than on the speaker’s reputation.
adokimos: Unapproved; rejected as unfit.
ἀδόκιμος
This is the word family behind “reprobates”: rejection and approval sit on opposite sides of the same test.
THE PATTERN
The integrity of an action can remain clear even when the person associated with it is misjudged or discredited.
But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.For now, do I persuade people or God? Or do I seek to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of the Anointed One.Keep your walk beautiful among the nations, so that, though they speak against you as doers of badness, they may watch your beautiful works and give weight to God in the day of watching over.THE THREAD
For the one who serves the Anointed One in these things is pleasing to God, and proven before people.“Approved” here is δόκιμος (dokimos, “approved”), from the same Greek word family as the word in the current verse. Romans shows approval following a life of service; this prayer makes clear that the speaker’s approval is not the reason the hearer does good.
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