What Does 1 Corinthians 14:29 Mean in the King James?
Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
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 prophet speaks, but the others, plural in Greek, discern: prophetic speech does not certify itself.
THE MEANING
When a prophetic word enters the gathering, two or three speak and the others weigh what is said. The voice is heard and distinguished in community; its claim does not stand alone.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that a message claiming prophetic authority must be accepted without examination.
THE ROOT
διακρινέτωσαν
diakrinetōsan
GROWS FROM
κρίνω (krinō, judge or decide) with διά (dia, through or apart)
To distinguish by deciding: to judge, evaluate, or discern.
“judge” in this verse is diakrinetōsan. The verb διακρινέτωσαν (diakrinetōsan) carries both judging and distinguishing: the speech is evaluated by discerning what it is. Its subject is οἱ ἄλλοι (hoi alloi, “the others”), plural in Greek, placing discernment across the gathering rather than inside the speaker alone.
ALSO GROWS
krinō: Judge; decide
κρίνω
The unprefixed verb names the act of making a judgment, showing that discernment here includes evaluation.
diakrisis: Discernment; distinguishing
διάκρισις
This related noun names the capacity to distinguish; 1 Corinthians 12:10 uses it for discerning spirits, linking the gathering’s weighing to a recognized form of discernment.
THE PATTERN
A claim to speak for God remains answerable to discernment.
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.THE THREAD
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:The word translated “discerning” is διάκρισις (diakrisis), a close relative of the verb in this verse. The same root links weighing prophetic speech with discerning spirits: both name the work of distinguishing what is being heard.
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