What Does 1 Corinthians 3:14 Mean in the King James?
If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
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 ties reward to what keeps its place on the foundation: endurance is the hinge between building and recompense.
THE MEANING
What you build upon the foundation has a future beyond the moment of building. When it remains, you receive a reward; what endures carries consequence now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that finishing a work automatically guarantees its reward gives way here: the work must remain.
THE ROOT
μενεῖ
meneî
GROWS FROM
μεν-
Remain, stay, continue.
The word describes work that continues to hold its place. In the same word family, a dwelling is a place of staying and a related compound describes enduring under pressure, bringing both duration and steadfastness into “abide.”
ALSO GROWS
monē: Dwelling, abode; a place to stay.
μονή
This related noun gives remaining a sense of lasting residence, illuminating work that keeps its place on the foundation.
hypomenō: Endure, remain steadfast; literally, remain under.
ὑπομένω
This compound carries the sense of continuing under pressure, fitting work that survives the testing described around this verse.
ἐπῳκοδόμησεν
epōikodomēsen
GROWS FROM
οἰκοδομ-
Build a house; build up.
The Greek verb belongs to the house-building word family, so the work is pictured as something structural, laid onto a foundation. Its endurance is the staying power of a built thing.
ALSO GROWS
oikodomē: Building, structure; building up.
οἰκοδομή
The related noun keeps the verse’s architectural image visible: what is built has a form that can remain.
oikodomos: Builder, house-builder.
οἰκοδόμος
This word names the one doing the building and reinforces that the work is constructed upon a base.
μισθόν
misthon
GROWS FROM
μισθ-
Pay, wages, recompense.
The word family gives “reward” a concrete sense of recompense. The verse connects that return to work that endures.
ALSO GROWS
misthoō: Hire or pay wages.
μισθόω
This verb shares the wage-word family, making the promised reward sound like a tangible return.
misthōtos: Hired worker, wage-earner.
μισθωτός
This related word keeps the language of payment close to the verse’s promise of recompense.
THE PATTERN
What has deep roots or a sound foundation shows its worth through what endures under pressure.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:THE THREAD
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.“Should remain” uses the same Greek verb family, μένω, as “abide” here. The same word describes fruit that remains and work that remains, linking what grows with what is built by their staying power.
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