What Does 1 Corinthians 11:1 Mean in the King James?

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1 · 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.

THE KEY

The verse makes imitation a chain of reflection: the human example matters because the Anointed One is already taking shape in that life.

THE MEANING

You encounter Christ’s pattern through a human life that reflects him, and that reflection becomes visible to others. Imitation is the likeness of the Anointed One taking shape in one person and passing through that life to another.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the idea that following another person means copying that person without limit: the verse names Christ as the pattern shaping the example.

THE ROOT

μιμηταί

mimētai

GROWS FROM

μιμ-

mim-

To imitate or reproduce a pattern.

“followers” in this verse is mimētai. The Greek noun ⁨μιμηταί⁩ (mimētai, “imitators”) carries the sense of taking on a pattern through resemblance. Its related verb ⁨μιμέομαι⁩ (mimeomai, “to imitate”) can be translated “follow,” giving that following the texture of embodied likeness; the clause orients that likeness toward Christ.

ALSO GROWS

mimētēs: Imitator; one who takes on another’s pattern.

μιμητής

This noun appears as “followers” in 1 Corinthians 4:16 and Ephesians 5:1, where the verse makes the source of the pattern explicit.

mimeomai: To imitate or follow a model.

μιμέομαι

This related verb appears as “follow” in 3 John 1:11, showing the same root behind following what is good.

Χριστοῦ

Christou

GROWS FROM

⁨χρίω⁩ (chriō), ⁨χρι-⁩ (chri-)

To anoint.

“Christ” in this verse is Christou. ⁨Χριστός⁩ (Christos, “Anointed One”) comes from ⁨χρίω⁩ (chriō, “to anoint”). The verse places imitation in relation to the Anointed One, so the pattern being reflected is carried through a person’s life.

ALSO GROWS

chriō: To anoint.

χρίω

The verb names the root behind the title used here, tying the model to anointing.

Christos: Anointed One.

Χριστός

This is the title in the verse; the human example is shaped by the Anointed One.

chrisma: Anointing.

χρῖσμα

This related noun shares the root and shows its branch as the act or mark of anointing.

THE PATTERN

A life’s pattern becomes visible through people who embody and pass on the likeness they follow.

And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

1 Thessalonians 1:6 · KJVIt names the same pattern of people imitating both human examples and the Lord.

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

Hebrews 13:7 · KJVThe verb translated “follow” turns a life into an example to consider, showing imitation as learned resemblance.

Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

3 John 1:11 · KJVThe command to follow what is good makes imitation selective: the pattern is seen in the good a life embodies.

THE THREAD

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

Ephesians 5:1 · KJV

Ephesians uses the same Greek noun ⁨μιμηταί⁩ (mimētai, “imitators”) and names God directly as the one to imitate. This parallel shows the human example as a visible link in a resemblance whose source is beyond the example.

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