What Does 1 Peter 3:7 Mean in the King James?
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
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 binds a husband’s prayers to whether he honors his wife as a co-heir of life’s favor.
THE MEANING
When you share life with your wife, this verse calls for dwelling with understanding and giving her honor. It names her as the weaker vessel and, at the same time, as a co-heir beside you in life’s favor. Your prayers are not separate from this shared life; the verse says they can be hindered there.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a husband’s prayer life is untouched by how he treats his wife is undone: the verse binds the two.
THE ROOT
συγκληρονόμοις
synklēronómois
GROWS FROM
κληρονόμος (klēronómos), from κλῆρος (klēros) + νέμω (nemō)
A person who receives a share allotted as an inheritance; the prefix συν- (syn-) means together, with.
“heirs together” in this verse is synklēronómois. The word names the wife as sharing the inheritance with her husband. Her being called the weaker vessel does not cancel the standing the verse gives her as a co-inheritor.
ALSO GROWS
klēronómos: Heir
κληρονόμος
This is the noun at the heart of “heirs together,” naming someone who receives an inheritance.
klēronoméō: Inherit
κληρονομέω
The related verb shows inheritance as something received, not a status one claims alone.
klēronomía: Inheritance
κληρονομία
The shared root keeps the verse’s focus on a common inheritance rather than separate spiritual ranks.
ἐγκόπτεσθαι
egkóptesthai
GROWS FROM
κόπτω
kóptō
To cut or strike; with ἐν- (en-), to cut into or impede.
The verb translated “hindered” carries the image of something being cut into or obstructed. Prayer is presented as vulnerable to what happens in shared life, not sealed off from it.
ALSO GROWS
enkóptō: Hinder, impede
ἐγκόπτω
This is the related verb used here: the shared life named in the verse can interrupt prayer.
ekkóptō: Cut off
ἐκκόπτω
This related form makes the cutting image concrete and sharpens the force behind “hindered.”
τιμήν
timḗn
GROWS FROM
τιμ-
tim-
Value, price, worth.
“honour” in this verse is timḗn. The word for honor belongs to the language of recognizing worth. In this verse, the wife’s vulnerability is named alongside her value as a co-heir.
ALSO GROWS
timáō: Honor, esteem
τιμάω
This verb names the act of recognizing another person’s worth, the response called for here.
tímios: Valuable, precious
τίμιος
This related word makes visible the worth held inside the language of honor.
THE PATTERN
Prayer is bound to how people respond to one another’s vulnerability and need.
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.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
Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.The word “inherit” here shares its Greek root with “heirs together” in verse 7. The shared root connects the life of co-inheritance with the blessing received through a response that does not return harm for harm.
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