What Does 1 John 5:4 Mean in the King James?
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
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 names trust itself as the victory: Greek νικᾷ (nikāi, overcomes) and νίκη (nikē, victory) belong to one word-family.
THE MEANING
Whatever is born from God in you meets the world from a source deeper than the world’s pressure. Trust, leaning your full weight on God, is the victory named here. The world is real, yet it does not determine the life that comes from God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the world’s force is the final measure of what can endure; the verse locates victory in trust rooted in God.
THE ROOT
νικᾷ
nikāi
GROWS FROM
νικ-
nik-
Conquer, prevail; victory.
“overcometh / victory” in this verse is nikāi. The Greek verb νικᾷ (nikāi, overcomes) and noun νίκη (nikē, victory) share the same seed, νικ- (nik-, conquer or prevail). The verse identifies πίστις (pistis, trust) as this victory, joining the act of overcoming with its result.
ALSO GROWS
nikē: Victory
νίκη
The noun names the outcome with the same seed as the verb translated “overcometh.”
nikētēs: Conqueror, victor
νικητής
This branch names the one who prevails, extending the same word-family from action to outcome to victor.
πίστις
pistis
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust, reliance, confidence.
“faith” in this verse is pistis. πίστις (pistis, trust) carries the sense of reliance, leaning your full weight on the one trusted. Here, trust is named as the victory itself, not a prize received afterward.
ALSO GROWS
pisteuō: Trust, believe
πιστεύω
The verb gives the act of relying that corresponds to the trust named as victory.
pistos: Firm, steady, trustworthy
πιστός
This branch shows the word-family’s connection to settled reliability, giving trust the quality of steadiness.
γεγεννημένον
gegennēmenon
GROWS FROM
γενν-
genn-
Beget, give birth.
γεγεννημένον (gegennēmenon, what has been born) presents birth with an abiding result. The verse begins with source: what is born from God carries that origin into its encounter with the world.
ALSO GROWS
gennaō: Beget, give birth
γεννάω
The source verb emphasizes origin, connecting what overcomes the world to the one from whom it is born.
gennēma: Offspring, produce
γέννημα
This branch names what comes forth from a source, echoing the verse’s focus on what is born from God.
THE PATTERN
Life rooted in God meets worldly pressure through trust and is not defined by that pressure.
Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.THE THREAD
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?It repeats the νικ- (nik-, conquer or prevail) family through νικῶν (nikōn, overcoming), and uses πιστεύω (pisteuō, trust or believe), related to πίστις (pistis, trust) in this verse. The next line makes explicit that overcoming the world takes shape as trust in Jesus as the Son of God.
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