What Does 2 Corinthians 1:23 Mean in the King James?
Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
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 root behind “spare” turns the delayed visit into a deliberate act of restraint for their sake.
THE MEANING
Care can take the form of a delayed arrival: the speaker holds back his presence to spare those he addresses. He places his own living self under God’s witness, giving the explanation the weight of a sworn claim.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A delayed arrival always means rejection or indifference; this verse names sparing as the reason for staying away.
THE ROOT
φειδόμενος
pheidomenos
GROWS FROM
φειδ-
pheid-
To spare, hold back, or use sparingly.
“spare” in this verse is pheidomenos. The verb makes his absence an act of sparing: he holds back his arrival for their sake. This root can also name unsparing treatment, so the verse turns on whether something is restrained or pressed upon another.
ALSO GROWS
epheisato: Spared; withheld from harming or taking.
ἐφείσατο
The same verb root appears in Romans 8:32, where God “spared not” his Son; the shared seed makes the contrast in restraint visible.
apheidia: Severity or unsparing treatment.
ἀφειδία
This form names the absence of sparing, revealing the root’s other edge: restraint can be withheld.
pheidōlos: Sparing or frugal.
φειδωλός
It carries the root into measured use, where sparing means holding something back.
μάρτυρα
martyra
GROWS FROM
μαρτυρ-
martyr-
To witness or bear testimony.
The Greek word names a witness, so calling God “for a record” is an appeal for testimony. The speaker’s claim is placed under God’s witness, giving his stated motive the weight of an oath.
ALSO GROWS
martys: A witness.
μάρτυς
It names the one who sees or testifies, the role invoked in this verse.
martyria: Testimony or witness.
μαρτυρία
It names the testimony itself, making clear that the appeal is about the truth of his reason for staying away.
ψυχήν
psychēn
GROWS FROM
ψυχ-
psych-
The living self or life.
Here “soul” is the speaker’s living self, brought into the oath rather than treated as a detached inner object. The word’s compounds keep that link to living existence in view.
ALSO GROWS
empsychos: Living or animate.
ἔμψυχος
The compound describes something alive, keeping ψυχή connected with the living self.
apsychos: Lifeless or inanimate.
ἄψυχος
The privative form marks the absence of life, showing the root’s close connection to living existence.
THE PATTERN
Care may take the form of withholding a presence or word that would burden another.
He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness.THE THREAD
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?The Greek verb translated “spare” comes from the same root as “spared” here. In Corinth, restraint means holding back a visit for their sake; Romans uses the root for what is not held back.
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