What Does 2 Corinthians 5:7 Mean in the King James?
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
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
Trust is the ground beneath your movement when visible appearances cannot show you the whole way.
THE MEANING
You are moving through life by the trust you lean your full weight on, even when what appears in front of you cannot show the whole path. The verse places the basis of your movement in trust rather than in visible appearance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what you can see right now is the only reliable ground for your next step.
THE ROOT
πίστις
pistis
GROWS FROM
πείθω
peithō
To persuade or win over; to be persuaded and trust.
The word translated “faith” belongs to a family of words about trusting what has persuaded you. It carries the sense of reliance you can lean your full weight on, giving the verse’s walk a ground beneath each step.
ALSO GROWS
pisteuō: Trust, rely on, believe.
πιστεύω
This verb shows pistis as something you place your reliance in, not just an idea you hold.
pistos: Firm, steady; trustworthy.
πιστός
The same word family joins trust with steadiness, suggesting a ground that can bear your weight.
εἶδος
eidos
GROWS FROM
εἴδω
eidō
To see or perceive; εἶδος (eidos) is the form or appearance seen.
English “sight” can suggest the eye’s faculty, while εἶδος (eidos) points to the visible form or appearance before you. The contrast is between trust and what appears to view: appearances are present, but they do not bear the walk.
ALSO GROWS
idea: Form, appearance.
ἰδέα
This related word preserves the sense of a visible form that presents itself to perception.
eidōlon: Image, likeness, idol.
εἴδωλον
An image is a formed appearance; this branch makes the verse’s focus on what presents itself to view more tangible.
THE PATTERN
Life proceeds on trust when visible evidence does not disclose the whole reality.
Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.THE THREAD
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:The word translated “believing” is πιστεύοντες (pisteuontes), a form of πιστεύω (pisteuō), from the same trust-family as πίστις (pistis) in this verse. The shared root links trust with movement even when the one trusted is not visible.
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