What Does 1 Thessalonians 4:9 Mean in the King James?
But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
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 love between you and others is already being taught by God, so a human reminder can name it but does not have to create it.
THE MEANING
You are already being taught by God to love one another. The verse speaks to you as someone who can recognize and share this love without waiting for another person to explain it first.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that love only becomes possible when someone gives you the right instruction.
THE ROOT
θεοδίδακτοι
theodidaktoi
GROWS FROM
διδασκ-
didask-
To teach or instruct; the word in this verse means taught by God.
“taught of God” in this verse is theodidaktoi. The Greek word joins “God” and “taught” into one description: God-taught. The verse presents your love as something God is already teaching, not something that must begin with a human reminder.
ALSO GROWS
didaskalos: Teacher
διδάσκαλος
The teacher is named from the same teaching root, making the source of the instruction in this verse explicit: God is the teacher.
didachē: Teaching or instruction
διδαχή
This branch names the instruction itself; here, its subject is love shared with one another.
didaktos: Taught or instructed
διδακτός
This related form appears in John 6:45 in the phrase “taught of God,” echoing the verse’s description of learning from God.
φιλαδελφία
philadelphia
GROWS FROM
ἀδελφ-
adelph-
Sibling or brother; the word carries the sense of shared kinship.
“brotherly love” in this verse is philadelphia. Philadelphia joins affection with siblinghood, so this love is shaped by the bond between people who belong to one another. English can make “love” sound like a feeling alone; the word here holds love together with kinship.
ALSO GROWS
adelphos: Brother or sibling
ἀδελφός
This is the kinship word within brotherly love, showing that the affection in the verse is directed toward one another as family.
adelphotēs: Brotherhood or sibling community
ἀδελφότης
This branch names the community formed by shared kinship, widening the verse’s love from an individual feeling to a bond among people.
THE PATTERN
God is the source of both the teaching and the shared love it brings forth.
And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.THE THREAD
It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.John uses the same teaching root in the phrase “taught of God.” Together, the verses show God-taught learning moving into relationship: here it takes the form of love for one another.
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