What Does 1 Peter 4:6 Mean in the King James?
For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
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 holds a human verdict on the flesh beside God’s measure of life in breath, so that verdict does not exhaust what it means to be alive.
THE MEANING
Your life is held in two measures at once: people assess you in the flesh, while life according to God is named in breath. A human verdict about the body is real within its own measure, but it does not exhaust what it means for you to live.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The condition of the body and the judgments people make about it are the final measure of a life.
THE ROOT
πνεύματι
pneumati
GROWS FROM
πνευ-
pneu-
Breath; the word also carries the sense of wind.
The KJV renders πνεύματι (pneumati, breath) as “in the spirit”; the same Greek word also means breath. This lets “live according to God” carry the concrete sense of life in breath.
ALSO GROWS
pneō: Blow or breathe.
πνέω
This verb shows the movement beneath the verse’s breath-word: life is associated with breath in motion.
pnoē: Breath or breathing.
πνοή
This related noun makes the breath-sense of πνεῦμα (pneuma, breath) audible beneath the KJV wording.
ζῶσιν
zōsin
GROWS FROM
ζα-/ζω- (za-/zō-)
To live, to be alive.
“live” in this verse is zōsin. The verb answers the description “dead” without erasing the judgment in the flesh; it places living under God’s measure. The same family names ζωή (zōē, life) and ζωοποιέω (zōopoieō, make alive), joining life itself with the act of bringing life.
ALSO GROWS
zōē: Life.
ζωή
The noun makes explicit the life that the verse names with the verb “live.”
zōopoieō: Make alive, give life.
ζωοποιέω
This branch connects living with life being brought forth, deepening the verse’s claim that the dead may live according to God.
κριθῶσιν
krithōsin
GROWS FROM
κριν-
krin-
To distinguish, decide, or judge.
“judged” in this verse is krithōsin. The verse does not dismiss the human judgment; it specifies that it is “according to men in the flesh.” Then it places alongside that decision a different measure: living according to God in breath.
ALSO GROWS
krisis: Judgment or decision.
κρίσις
This noun shows judgment as a decision made, the kind of human measure the verse names.
kritēs: Judge.
κριτής
This branch names the one making a judgment, sharpening the verse’s distinction between human judgment and God’s measure.
THE PATTERN
What is called dead by the body’s measure can still receive God’s breath and be named as living.
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.THE THREAD
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.Peter’s “live” is ζῶσιν (zōsin, live), from the same ζάω (zaō, live) family as Paul’s ζωή (zōē, life). Both verses use πνεῦμα (pneuma, breath): 1 Peter has πνεύματι (pneumati, breath), while Romans renders the word “Spirit”; together they set the dead body beside life in breath.
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