What Does 1 Corinthians 10:6 Mean in the King James?

Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
1 Corinthians 10:6 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

What feels like a private craving can be a repeating pattern: desire takes its direction from what it reaches for.

This verse turns the pattern toward you now: desire takes its direction from what it reaches for. The scriptural imprint makes visible how longing can fasten onto what harms and invite the same destructive shape again.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie that a strong desire is corrupt simply because it is strong dissolves here; the verse locates the danger in longing for what is evil.

ἐπιθυμητάς

epithymētās

GROWS FROM

θυμ-

thym-

Passion or desire; with ⁨ἐπί⁩ (epi, “upon”), the word family expresses longing directed toward something.

“lust” in this verse is epithymētās. The Greek word names desire, not specifically sexual desire; its direction comes from what follows it here: “evil things.” The same word family can describe longing for something good, so the verse reveals the object of desire rather than condemning desire itself.

ALSO GROWS

epithymia: Desire, longing.

ἐπιθυμία

In Luke 22:15, the KJV renders this word “desire,” showing that the word family is not inherently negative.

epithymeō: To desire or long for.

ἐπιθυμέω

This verb appears in Luke 22:15 as “I have desired,” revealing the same longing directed toward a different object.

τύποι

typoi

GROWS FROM

⁨τυπ-⁩ (typ-), from ⁨τύπτω⁩ (typtō)

⁨Τύπτω⁩ means “strike”; ⁨τύπος⁩ is an impression or mark, and by extension a pattern or model.

“examples” in this verse is typoi. The verse calls these scenes ⁨τύποι⁩: impressions that make a recurring shape visible to you now. The same word family appears in verse 11, where the KJV calls them “ensamples,” making their role as patterns explicit.

ALSO GROWS

typos: Imprint, mark, pattern, or model.

τύπος

In John 20:25, the same word means the “print” of the nails; here, the pattern left by the scriptural scenes can be recognized.

typikōs: As an example or pattern.

τυπικῶς

The related word appears in 1 Corinthians 10:11, where the KJV says these things happened “for ensamples.”

Desire takes its direction from its object, and longing for what harms can repeat a destructive pattern.

And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
Numbers 11:4 · KJVThe longing becomes collective, and its object shows how an appetite can shape a shared course.
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
James 1:14 · KJVDesire becomes a lure when it draws a person toward its object.
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
Luke 22:15 · KJVThe same Greek desire-family can express longing for the Passover, showing that desire’s direction depends on what it reaches for.
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
Luke 22:15 · KJV

“Lusted” and “with desire I have desired” translate forms of the same Greek word family. The shared root makes the distinction concrete: desire is the force, while what it reaches for gives it direction.

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1 Corinthians 10:6 KJV Meaning