What Does 1 Corinthians 4:10 Mean in the King James?
We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
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
When those in Christ look foolish, weak, and despised, public honor stops proving whose wisdom is real.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks to the reader whenever spiritual worth is measured by looking wise, strong, and important. In Christ, visible success and spiritual standing can diverge: the person counted as foolish, weak, or without honor remains within the verse’s field of spiritual reality. Its sharp edge also reaches anyone who assumes that being respected in Christ places them above others.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie it undoes is that a life aligned with Christ must look impressive, powerful, and respected to be spiritually sound.
THE ROOT
ἔνδοξοι
endoxoi
GROWS FROM
δοξ-
Weight; public reputation or standing.
“honourable” in this verse is endoxoi. The word points to those who carry standing in public view, and its root δόξα (doxa, weight) brings out the question of who counts. Set against the despised, it shows that honor is also a public measure of whose presence carries weight.
ALSO GROWS
doxa: Weight; standing or reputation.
δόξα
It makes the verse’s contrast about whose standing counts, not only about private character.
endoxos: Honored, held in good standing.
ἔνδοξος
It names the status the Corinthians are claimed to possess.
adoxos: Without reputation, obscure.
ἄδοξος
Its contrast helps expose how public standing can be withheld from those the world overlooks.
ἄτιμοι
atimoi
GROWS FROM
τιμ-
Value, price, honor.
“despised” in this verse is atimoi. The word can be heard as “without honor,” from the same value-bearing root found in words for price, honor, and preciousness. The verse exposes contempt as a verdict about worth, showing that public honor and public rejection are opposite valuations.
ALSO GROWS
timē: Value, price, honor.
τιμή
It reveals that the word rendered “despised” belongs to a family concerned with how much something is valued.
timios: Precious, valuable.
τίμιος
It shows the same root can describe what is regarded as worth much, sharpening the contrast with those treated as worthless.
atimazō: Dishonor, treat as without honor.
ἀτιμάζω
This verb from the same family makes the social act of stripping someone of standing explicit.
μωροί
mōroi
GROWS FROM
μωρ-
Dull, foolish; lacking discernment.
The same Greek word family can describe both foolishness and salt becoming tasteless, as in Matthew 5:13. “Fools for Christ” therefore carries a verdict shaped by another standard of what is sensible, rather than simply naming an absence of insight.
ALSO GROWS
mōria: Foolishness.
μωρία
It turns the label in this verse into a recurring category for what appears senseless by the world’s measure.
mōrainō: Make foolish; become tasteless or insipid.
μωραίνω
Its use for salt losing its savor brings out how the same word family can describe a loss of the quality others expect.
THE PATTERN
Visible prestige does not settle where divine wisdom, strength, and worth are at work.
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?THE THREAD
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;This verse repeats the Greek word families in “fools” and “weak”: μωρός (mōros, foolish) and ἀσθενής (asthenēs, weak). The connection makes those labels part of a recurring reversal, where what appears foolish and weak exposes the limits of the world’s ranking of wisdom and power.
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