What Does 2 Corinthians 10:10 Mean in the King James?
For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.
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 message can be called weighty on the page and contemptible in the speaker’s mouth.
THE MEANING
This verse names a judgment you can still recognize: words are received as weighty and forceful while the body and speech behind them are dismissed as weak. The contrast shows how easily a message’s perceived force gets measured against the speaker’s appearance and delivery. It holds that contempt in view without making it harmless.
THE ROOT
βαρεῖαι
bareiai
GROWS FROM
βαρ- (bar-), from βαρύς (barýs)
heavy, weighty, grave
The Greek word for “weighty” carries the basic sense of heaviness, so the letters are described as bearing mass and consequence. The same word family can name a load or burden, holding gravity and force together in the verse.
ALSO GROWS
báros: weight, load, burden
βάρος
This branch makes the heaviness in “weighty” concrete: the letters are described as carrying something substantial.
baréō: weigh down, burden
βαρέω
This verb shows the same root as an action that places weight on someone, sharpening the contrast with the speaker described as weak.
λόγος
logos
GROWS FROM
λογ-
log-
word, saying, account, expressed message
The Greek is λόγος (logos), “word” or “message”; English “speech” can make the criticism sound as if it concerns vocal delivery alone. The word keeps the expressed message in view, the very thing called contemptible, beside the letters said to carry weight.
ALSO GROWS
lógion: saying, utterance, oracle
λόγιον
This branch keeps λόγος connected to the content being heard and judged, not only the sound of a voice.
logismós: reasoning, thought, argument
λογισμός
This branch shows the word family reaching into articulated thought, so the dismissal can touch the message as well as its delivery.
ἐξουθενημένος
exouthenēmenos
GROWS FROM
οὐθέν / οὐδέν (outhen / ouden), within ἐξουθενέω (exouthenéō)
nothing, not anything; to treat as nothing
“contemptible” in this verse is exouthenēmenos. The word means more than unimpressive: it carries the sense of being regarded as nothing. The verse exposes the contemptuous judgment placed on the speaker’s word without requiring that judgment to be true.
ALSO GROWS
oudén: nothing, not anything
οὐδέν
This is the “nothing” within the word family, showing the depth of the dismissal expressed by “contemptible.”
exouthenéō: regard as nothing, despise
ἐξουθενέω
This verb names the act of assigning no worth, making clear that the verse reports a judgment rather than a neutral description.
THE PATTERN
Perceived weakness in the person carrying a message does not determine the weight or force the message bears.
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.Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.THE THREAD
Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.The next verse directly addresses the split between letters and bodily presence: what is expressed in words is matched in action when present. It turns the contrast into a question of continuity between word and deed.
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