What Does 1 Thessalonians 2:13 Mean in the King James?
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
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
This verse treats receiving as a passage from an audible message to inward activity: the word of God works within those who trust.
THE MEANING
A word reaches you through a human voice, yet you receive it as God’s word. It does not remain outside you as information; it is at work within you as you trust. Hearing, receiving, and inward activity belong to one living movement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that what reaches you through a human voice can only remain human speech: the heard message is received as God’s word and works within you.
THE ROOT
ἐνεργεῖται
energeitai
GROWS FROM
ἔργον (ergon), in the ἐνεργέω (energeō) word family
ἔργον (ergon) means work or deed; ἐνεργέω (energeō) means to be at work or operate.
“effectually worketh” in this verse is energeitai. The Greek verb ἐνεργεῖται (energeitai, is at work) belongs to the ἐνεργέω (energeō, operate or be at work) family, built around ἔργον (ergon, work or deed). The verse presents God’s word as active within trusting people, not as speech that ends when it is heard.
ALSO GROWS
ergon: Work, deed, or what is done.
ἔργον
This is the work at the center of the word family; the verse locates that activity within the hearers.
energeia: Activity, operation, working.
ἐνέργεια
This related form makes the word’s active operation visible beneath the English phrase “effectually worketh.”
energeō: To be at work, operate, or produce an effect.
ἐνεργέω
This verb family links the word heard with ongoing activity in the people who trust.
παραλαβόντες
paralabontes
GROWS FROM
λαμβάνω
lambanō
To take or receive.
The first “received” is παραλαβόντες (paralabontes, having received or taken in), from παραλαμβάνω (paralambanō, receive or take alongside). The next is ἐδέξασθε (edexasthe, you welcomed or received), from δέχομαι (dechomai, welcome or receive): English repeats “received,” while Greek distinguishes taking in the message from welcoming it as God’s word.
ALSO GROWS
lambanō: Take, receive.
λαμβάνω
This is the verbal seed in παραλαμβάνω, the first act of receiving described in the verse.
epilambanomai: Take hold of, grasp.
ἐπιλαμβάνομαι
This related compound adds the sense of taking hold, showing how the same root can describe active reception.
πιστεύουσιν
pisteuousin
GROWS FROM
πίστις (pistis), with πιστεύω (pisteuō)
πίστις (pistis) means trust or reliance; πιστεύω (pisteuō) means to trust or place confidence.
“believe” in this verse is pisteuousin. The Greek πιστεύουσιν (pisteuousin, those who trust) describes the people in whom the word is at work. The verse holds trust and inner activity together, rather than treating belief as a bare opinion.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust, reliance, confidence.
πίστις
This noun names the trust that the verse places alongside the word’s work within people.
pistos: Firm, steady, trustworthy.
πιστός
This related form brings out the steadiness associated with trust.
pisteuō: Trust, place confidence.
πιστεύω
This verb shares the same word family as the verse’s description of those in whom the word works.
THE PATTERN
A word received as God’s is not inert information; it is active in what it reaches.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.THE THREAD
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,The “worketh” here and the “worketh” in Ephesians 3:20 draw on ἐνεργέω (energeō, be at work or operate). Here the word works within those who trust; there, power works within us, carrying the same root’s inner activity forward.
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