What Does 2 Corinthians 5:5 Mean in the King James?
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
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
God’s pledge is already present as breath: the future is promised through a gift given now.
THE MEANING
God is working you toward this very thing, and the Spirit’s earnest is already given to you. The fullness is still ahead, but its pledge is present now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that what is promised is wholly absent until it is complete: the verse says its pledge is already given.
THE ROOT
πνεύματος
pneumatos
GROWS FROM
πνευ
The Greek family of πνεῦμα (pneuma) carries the sense of blowing or breathing; πνεῦμα means breath, wind, or spirit.
The same word family holds breath, wind, and spirit together, where English can separate them. The pledge is not merely an abstract guarantee: it is given as the present breath of the Spirit.
ALSO GROWS
pneō: to blow, to breathe
πνέω
This verb shows the motion held within the word family: breath and wind are linked by the same root.
pnoē: breath, blowing
πνοή
This related noun names breath as the result of blowing, carrying the family’s shared image into the verse’s gift.
κατεργασάμενος
katergasamenos
GROWS FROM
ἐργ
Work that brings something about or carries it through to a result.
The word translated “wrought” belongs to the family of work and accomplishment. God is not only promising the outcome; the verse says the work toward it is already being done.
ALSO GROWS
ergon: work, deed
ἔργον
It names the work or result associated with the same Greek stem.
ergazomai: to work, accomplish
ἐργάζομαι
This verb shares the stem and makes the ongoing activity in “hath wrought” visible.
עֵרָבוֹן
ʿērāḇōn
GROWS FROM
ערב
To pledge oneself as surety or guarantee; עֵרָבוֹן means a pledge or earnest.
The Greek ἀρραβῶνα (arrabōna, pledge or earnest) is a loanword related to this Semitic pledge-word. Its image is a guarantee that binds the present to what is still coming: the gift already given carries the assurance of completion.
ALSO GROWS
ʿārab: to become surety, to pledge
עָרַב
The verb shows the act behind the earnest: a commitment that guarantees what is owed.
ʿārēv: surety, guarantor
עָרֵב
This related form names the one who stands as guarantee, echoing the pledge already given in the verse.
THE PATTERN
What is promised in fullness is already present as a first gift that guarantees its completion.
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.THE THREAD
Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.This verse repeats the same Greek word for “earnest” and again joins it to the Spirit. The pledge is not only a promise about what comes later; it is already given within.
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