What Does 1 Timothy 1:8 Mean in the King James?
But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
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 same word-family names both the instruction and its fitting use, tying its goodness to how it is handled.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks to you now: instruction is good when you use it in keeping with its purpose. What it teaches and the way you apply it stay joined.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that good instruction makes every use of it good; the verse joins its goodness to its fitting use.
THE ROOT
νόμος
nomos
GROWS FROM
νεμ-
nem-
The Greek verbal root νέμω (nemō), meaning to allot, distribute, or manage, is associated with νόμος (nomos), meaning law, custom, or instruction.
“law / lawfully” in this verse is nomos. The verse uses νόμος (nomos, law or instruction) and νομίμως (nomimōs, lawfully) from the same word-family. That echo links the instruction’s goodness to its fitting use: it serves well when handled as instruction.
ALSO GROWS
nomos: Law, custom, or instruction.
νόμος
This is the word translated “law”; the verse’s claim of goodness concerns instruction itself.
nomimos: Lawful or in keeping with established rule.
νόμιμος
The related word-family appears in the verse’s “lawfully,” echoing the instruction’s name as it describes its fitting use.
THE PATTERN
Instruction shows its goodness by forming understanding and guiding fitting action.
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:THE THREAD
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.Romans uses the same Greek word νόμος (nomos, law or instruction) and calls it holy, just, and good. That shared root clarifies the distinction here: the instruction is good, while its use must remain fitting.
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