What Does 1 Timothy 6:2 Mean in the King James?

And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.

1 Timothy 6:2 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The verse calls the master a brother while commanding the enslaved person with a verb from the Greek word-family for slavery.

THE MEANING

The verse speaks to the enslaved person with a believing master: shared brotherhood is no permission for contempt, and the instruction is to serve all the more. The Greek service verb belongs to the word-family for slavery, so the unequal bond remains present in the command. The masters are called faithful and beloved, “partakers of the benefit.”

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that spiritual kinship automatically cancels the unequal demand for service; here brotherhood forbids contempt while the service command remains.

THE ROOT

δουλευέτωσαν

douleuetōsan

GROWS FROM

δοῦλ

doul-

Slave; a person bound to another’s service.

The verb translated “do them service” is ⁨δουλευέτωσαν⁩ (douleuetōsan), a form of ⁨δουλεύω⁩ (douleuō, to serve as a slave), from ⁨δοῦλος⁩ (doulos, slave). English “service” can sound general, while this word-family keeps the labor inside an enslaved person’s relation to a master.

ALSO GROWS

doulos: Slave; servant bound to another.

δοῦλος

The noun names the person-status carried by the service verb.

douleia: Slavery; bondage.

δουλεία

This related noun makes the condition present within the same word-family.

καταφρονείτωσαν

kataphroneitōsan

GROWS FROM

φρον

phron-

To think, set the mind, or regard; combined with ⁨κατά⁩ (kata, down), to think down upon.

“despise” in this verse is kataphroneitōsan. The form ⁨καταφρονείτωσαν⁩ (kataphroneitōsan) carries the sense of regarding someone from above, as beneath consideration. The verse names the master as a brother, exposing contempt as a refusal to see that shared kinship.

ALSO GROWS

phroneō: To think; set one’s mind or regard.

φρονέω

The base verb shows that contempt is a way of seeing and judging.

phronēsis: Understanding; practical wisdom.

φρόνησις

This related word shows the same thought-family can name considered judgment rather than looking down on someone.

πιστούς

pistous

GROWS FROM

πιστ

pist-

Trust, reliance, and trustworthiness; one who trusts or proves reliable.

“believing / faithful” in this verse is pistous. Greek uses the same word-family for the masters called “believing” and those called “faithful”; English gives two labels where the sentence holds trust and reliability together. The root carries the sense of trust and leaning one’s weight on what is reliable.

ALSO GROWS

pistis: Trust; reliance.

πίστις

The noun names the trust held together with the masters’ reliability.

pisteuō: To trust, entrust oneself, or believe.

πιστεύω

The verb shows trust as an act of placing oneself or something in another’s care.

THE PATTERN

Brotherhood reaches across a master–servant bond and changes the obligations within it.

And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee.

Deuteronomy 15:12 · KJVThe person sold into service is still named as a brother, and that kinship stands beside a concrete limit on the service.

And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.

Ephesians 6:9 · KJVThe address turns toward masters and places them under the authority of their own Master, while forbidding threats.

Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord?

Philemon 1:16 · KJVThe servant is named as a beloved brother, a relation that reaches beyond the status of servant.

THE THREAD

With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:

Ephesians 6:7 · KJV

The same Greek verb-family stands behind “do them service” here and “doing service” in Ephesians 6:7. Ephesians describes that labor as done with good will and directed to the Lord, letting the shared root illuminate what “service” carries in both verses.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us