What Does 2 Corinthians 10:16 Mean in the King James?
To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.
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 good news reaches beyond your circle, but its reach never turns another person’s prepared ground into yours.
THE MEANING
The message moves into regions beyond your present reach, while the work already prepared by someone else remains theirs to claim. Expansion and restraint belong together: going farther does not make another person’s labor your own.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that wider reach gives you a claim to someone else’s prepared work.
THE ROOT
κανόνι
kanoni
GROWS FROM
κανών
kanōn-
A measuring rod or standard; the word family is commonly connected with a reed used as a straight measure.
This word holds the sense of measured scope, not just a line drawn on a map. Going farther does not enlarge your claim over work someone else has prepared.
ALSO GROWS
kanna: Reed or cane
κάννα
The reed gives the image behind a straight measuring rod, making the verse’s boundary a measure of work rather than a claim to everything nearby.
kanōn: Measuring rod, rule, or standard
κανών
The rule marks the scope within which a person’s work can be honestly claimed.
εὐαγγελίσασθαι
euangelisasthai
GROWS FROM
ἀγγελ-
angel-
A message announced or carried; the eu- prefix adds the sense of good or welcome news.
“preach the gospel” in this verse is euangelisasthai. The verb carries good news outward; it is not merely speech kept within the present circle. Its word family holds the message and the messenger together as the announcement travels beyond what is already reached.
ALSO GROWS
euangelion: Good news or gospel
εὐαγγέλιον
This is the good news being carried into regions beyond the current reach.
angelos: Messenger
ἄγγελος
The shared word family makes the outward movement of a message visible in the act of announcing it.
THE PATTERN
Good news moves into new territory through work that respects the foundations and scope already laid by others.
Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.THE THREAD
Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation:Romans uses the same Greek verb for announcing good news and pairs it with a refusal to build on another person’s foundation. It makes clear that reaching beyond your circle does not mean taking ownership of someone else’s ground.
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