What Does 1 Peter 3:12 Mean in the King James?
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
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 pairs divine attention with alignment: the Lord hears the aligned person’s plea and sets his face against those who practice harm.
THE MEANING
The Lord’s gaze rests on the aligned, and his ear is turned toward their pleas. His face is set against those doing harm; the same attention that receives the plea opposes harmful action.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that divine attention is indifferent, that pleas go unheard while harm proceeds without opposition.
THE ROOT
δικαίους
dikaious
GROWS FROM
δικ-
dik-
Rightness and justice; here, alignment.
“Righteous” points to more than a moral score: it describes people oriented toward what is right. The Lord’s attention rests on the aligned, while the verse contrasts them with people actively doing harm.
ALSO GROWS
dikaiosynē: rightness, righteousness; alignment
δικαιοσύνη
This noun names the quality shared by those called righteous, making their standing a matter of orientation, not a label alone.
dikaioō: to set right, justify; to declare aligned
δικαιόω
This verb shows the root’s movement toward being set in right relation, which illuminates the kind of people whose plea the Lord hears.
κακά
kaka
GROWS FROM
κακ-
kak-
Bad, harmful, or wrong.
The verse describes people doing harmful things, not merely carrying an abstract label of “evil.” This makes the Lord’s opposition a response to active harm, set directly against the alignment named earlier.
ALSO GROWS
kakos: bad, harmful, wrong
κακός
This adjective names what marks the deeds the Lord opposes.
kakia: malice, wickedness
κακία
This noun shows the root extending from what is harmful in action to the malice behind it.
kakopoieō: to do evil, to do harm
κακοποιέω
This verb echoes the verse’s description of people practicing harmful acts.
THE PATTERN
The Lord’s attention receives the aligned person’s plea and opposes the practice of harm.
The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.THE THREAD
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.James uses δέησις (deēsis, a plea or petition) for “prayer,” as Peter does, and δικαίου (dikaiou, an aligned or righteous person) from the same word-family as Peter’s “righteous.” Peter pictures the Lord’s ear turned toward that plea; James describes its force.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us