What Does 2 Corinthians 11:26 Mean in the King James?
In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
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 list ends by locating danger inside the word for family: even apparent kinship can be a mask.
THE MEANING
This verse names danger crossing every boundary, roads, waters, cities, wilderness, and relationships. Its final phrase keeps the risk close: harm can come through people who present themselves as family.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A shared name of brotherhood does not by itself prove shared character or safety.
THE ROOT
ψευδαδέλφοις
pseudadelphois
GROWS FROM
ἀδελφός
adelphos
Brother or sibling, traditionally understood as “from the same womb.”
“false brethren” in this verse is pseudadelphois. The word joins falsehood to kinship: the danger is carried by people who appear to belong to the family. The verse leaves that contradiction intact, closeness in name does not guarantee trustworthiness.
ALSO GROWS
adelphē: Sister.
ἀδελφή
The feminine form shares the same sibling language, showing that the word-family describes kinship rather than a particular role.
philadelphia: Brotherly or sibling love.
φιλαδελφία
This names the affection expected between siblings; beside “false brethren,” it makes the gap between claimed kinship and lived relationship visible.
ὁδοιπορίαις
hodoiporiais
GROWS FROM
ὁδός (hodos) + πορεύομαι (poreuomai)
A journey made by going along a road or way.
“journeyings” in this verse is hodoiporiais. The verse begins with movement along a way, then names danger across nearly every kind of setting. The risks do not belong to one stretch of the road; they accompany the traveler through changing places and people.
ALSO GROWS
hodos: Road, way, or path.
ὁδός
The journey is framed as movement along a way, giving the whole list a sense of exposure encountered while traveling.
poreuomai: To go or travel.
πορεύομαι
This supplies the movement in “journeyings”; the verse’s repeated dangers meet the person as they go.
THE PATTERN
Danger can reach beyond strangers and enter the circle of people who seem closest.
Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.THE THREAD
And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:Galatians uses the same Greek word for “false brethren,” ψευδαδέλφους (pseudadelphous), making the shared root unmistakable. It shows how counterfeit kinship can conceal an attempt to pull people from liberty into bondage.
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