What Does 1 Timothy 2:9 Mean in the King James?
In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
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 Greek ties “adorn” to “order”: this verse measures a woman’s adornment by modesty and self-command, not costly display.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks to your self-presentation now: modesty and self-command belong alongside what you wear. It expressly names braided hair, gold, pearls, and costly clothing as adornments outside the expression it describes.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that costly display is what makes a woman worthy of regard.
THE ROOT
κοσμέω
kosmeō
GROWS FROM
κοσμ-
kosm-
Arrange, order, put in proper order.
English “adorn” can sound like adding decoration, but κοσμέω carries the sense of arranging or setting in order. Its shared stem with the word translated “modest” binds self-presentation to order and restraint.
ALSO GROWS
kosmos: Order, arrangement; also the world.
κόσμος
The same word family links adornment with an ordered arrangement, adding depth to the verse’s focus on how a person presents herself.
kosmios: Orderly, respectable, decorous; the adjective describing the apparel here.
κόσμιος
This word appears beside κοσμέω in the verse, echoing the idea of an orderly, dignified presentation.
σωφροσύνη
sōphrosynē
GROWS FROM
σωφρον-
sōphron-
Sound-mindedness, sound judgment, self-command.
“Sobriety” can suggest only abstaining from drink, while σωφροσύνη speaks more broadly of sound judgment and self-command. Here that quality shapes adornment itself: what is seen is held together with a composed mind.
ALSO GROWS
sōphrōn: Sound-minded, sensible, self-controlled.
σώφρων
This related word names the kind of composed judgment that gives σωφροσύνη its force.
sōphroneō: To be of sound mind, exercise self-control.
σωφρονέω
This verb shows the word family as an active practice of clear judgment, not merely a label for a restrained appearance.
THE PATTERN
Lasting honor is measured by the character shaping a person’s presentation, not by outward appearance or luxury.
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.THE THREAD
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;Peter uses the same κοσμ- word family for “adorning,” then names plaited hair, gold, and apparel as outward adornment. The shared root links the two verses’ question of what gives order to a woman’s presentation.
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