What Does 1 Corinthians 13:5 Mean in the King James?
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
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
Love refuses to make a relationship a contest for advantage, a sharpened response, or an account of wrongs.
THE MEANING
Love does not behave in a way that humiliates or disregards another, and it does not make its own advantage the goal. Irritation does not become a sharpened response, and harm does not become a running account to collect. This describes a way of relating that can acknowledge injury without turning the injured person into a debtor.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that love proves itself by getting its own way and preserving a detailed ledger of every offense.
THE ROOT
λογίζεται
logizetai
GROWS FROM
λογίζομαι
logizomai
to reckon, calculate, or account
The verb can describe counting something to a person’s account, so “thinketh no evil” carries the image of refusing to keep a ledger of wrongs. Love does not have to pretend harm never happened; it refuses to keep charging it against the person.
ALSO GROWS
logismos: reasoning, calculation
λογισμός
This related word makes visible the act of mentally calculating and holding something against another.
logistēs: one who calculates; a reckoner
λογιστής
The reckoner belongs to the same word family, sharpening the verse’s image of an account that love does not keep.
παροξύνεται
paroxynetai
GROWS FROM
παροξύνω
paroxynō
to sharpen, stir into irritation, or provoke
“is not easily provoked” in this verse is paroxynetai. The word carries an image of sharpness turning into irritation: love does not make its response an edge aimed at another person. The related παροξυσμός (paroxysmos, provocation) can also describe stirring one another toward love and good works (Hebrews 10:24), showing that intensity can be turned toward care.
ALSO GROWS
oxys: sharp
ὀξύς
This word supplies the sharpness in the image of irritation becoming an edge.
paroxysmos: provocation, incitement
παροξυσμός
Hebrews 10:24 uses this related word for stirring one another toward love and good works.
ζητεῖ
zētei
GROWS FROM
ζητέω
zēteō
to seek, look for, or pursue
“seeketh not her own” in this verse is zētei. The verb names an active pursuit, and “her own” is what love does not make the object of that pursuit. The verse does not erase the self; it shows that love does not make private advantage the outcome it is always seeking.
ALSO GROWS
zētēsis: inquiry, dispute
ζήτησις
This related noun preserves the sense of actively pursuing an answer or outcome.
zētētēs: seeker, inquirer
ζητητής
This agent noun names the one doing the seeking, highlighting the direction of the pursuit.
THE PATTERN
Love does not preserve a wrong as a weapon or debt; it opens a path for relationship to continue.
He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.THE THREAD
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.The same verb λογίζομαι (logizomai), meaning to reckon or credit, stands behind “thinketh” here and “impute” there. The shared root reveals love loosening a wrong from the account held against a person.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us