What Does 2 Corinthians 11:30 Mean in the King James?
If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
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 boast here does not hide weakness; it brings the place where self-sufficiency fails into the open.
THE MEANING
Here, boasting speaks from the limit rather than concealing it. Your weakness is not renamed as strength; it remains what is brought forward when a claim must be made.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie it undoes is that a worthy boast must prove personal strength.
THE ROOT
ἀσθενείας
astheneias
GROWS FROM
ἀσθεν- (asthen-; from ἀ- (a-, without) + σθένος (sthenos, strength))
Lack of strength; weakness, frailty, or incapacity.
“infirmities” in this verse is astheneias. The word for infirmity holds physical frailty and lack of capacity together: the boast arises in the disclosed limit itself. It does not make weakness secretly strong; the weakness remains visible.
ALSO GROWS
asthenēs: Weak, without strength
ἀσθενής
The related adjective keeps the focus on a real limit in strength, not a weakness disguised as achievement.
astheneō: To be weak or ill
ἀσθενέω
The verb can describe weakness as an experienced condition, bringing bodily frailty into the word’s range.
καυχήσομαι
kauchēsomai
GROWS FROM
καυχ-
kauch-
To boast, exult, or take pride.
The verb translated “glory” carries the sense of making a boast, and its related nouns name both the act and the subject of boasting. Set beside weakness, it makes the verse’s reversal plain: the limit itself is brought forward as the boast.
ALSO GROWS
kauchema: A boast or ground for boasting
καύχημα
This branch asks what is being presented as the basis of the boast; here, it is what concerns weakness.
kauchēsis: Boasting or exultation
καύχησις
This names the act of boasting and keeps attention on how the verse redirects that act toward weakness.
THE PATTERN
Boasting is reordered from human strength toward what exposes its limits and dependence.
Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.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
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.It repeats the same pair: ἀσθένεια (astheneia, weakness or infirmity) and καυχάομαι (kauchaomai, to boast). The next line makes the verse’s startling placement explicit: weakness remains visible while power rests upon it.
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