What Does 1 Corinthians 2:3 Mean in the King James?
And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
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 holds presence and unsteadiness together, without making composure its entry price.
THE MEANING
Presence can include weakness, fear, and visible trembling; these conditions do not erase the fact of being with another. The verse names them without apology or disguise, making honesty about an unsettled body part of the scene.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that you must feel strong and composed before your presence counts.
THE ROOT
ἀσθενείᾳ
astheneia
GROWS FROM
ἀσθεν-
Without strength, formed from the Greek privative prefix ἀ- (a-, without) and σθένος (sthenos, strength).
“weakness” in this verse is astheneia. The word names a condition of being without strength, rather than a verdict about character. Set beside fear and trembling, it lets the verse name unsteadiness plainly while presence remains possible.
ALSO GROWS
asthenēs: weak; without strength
ἀσθενής
The adjective names the state already present in this word, making weakness a condition rather than a character verdict.
astheneō: to be weak or ill
ἀσθενέω
The same word family can describe weakness in action or bodily condition, keeping the idea broader than a moral failing.
φόβῳ
phobō
GROWS FROM
φοβ-
phob-
Fear or alarm.
Fear is named directly alongside weakness, not concealed beneath a display of confidence. Its place in the sentence shows that being present does not require the feeling of alarm to disappear.
ALSO GROWS
phobeomai: to fear or be afraid
φοβέομαι
The verb gives fear as something a person experiences, rather than an identity or moral label.
phoberos: fearsome; causing fear
φοβερός
This related word shows the family can name both the feeling of fear and what evokes it.
τρόμῳ
tromō
GROWS FROM
τρέμω
tremō
To tremble or shake.
Trembling gives fear a bodily register: the verse names the shaking separately instead of treating it as another word for fear. The phrase keeps the inner alarm and its physical expression visible together.
ALSO GROWS
tromos: trembling; shaking
τρόμος
This noun names the bodily response that the verse includes in its account of presence.
entromos: trembling; filled with fear
ἔντρομος
This related form brings trembling and fear together, echoing the two distinct but neighboring states in the verse.
THE PATTERN
Presence is not conditional on strength or composure.
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.THE THREAD
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.The Greek noun translated “infirmities” here, ἀσθενείαις (astheneiais, weaknesses), belongs to the same word family as “weakness” in 1 Corinthians 2:3. This verse names strength as present in weakness, opening the possibility that unsteadiness is not the end of what is present.
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