What Does 2 Corinthians 8:20 Mean in the King James?
Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us:
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 abundance is not merely managed; the word behind “administered” makes its handling an act of service.
THE MEANING
When abundance passes through your hands, its handling is part of the service itself. Care in its administration makes the work visible and leaves less room for a charge against it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A good cause makes it unnecessary for anyone to see how its abundance is handled.
THE ROOT
διακονουμένη
diakonoumenē
GROWS FROM
διακον-
diakon-
To serve or attend to another’s need.
English “administered” can sound like office work; the Greek word means serving or attending to another. The verse places abundance within that service: handling it is part of what is being given.
ALSO GROWS
diakonía: Service; ministry.
διακονία
The same word family names service itself, showing that handling the abundance is part of the ministry.
diákonos: Servant; minister.
διάκονος
This branch names the one who serves, placing the handler in a relationship of service to others.
μωμήσηται
mōmēsētai
GROWS FROM
μωμ-
mōm-
Blemish; fault.
The word translated “blame” belongs to a family built around blemish and finding fault. It frames the risk as a visible stain on the work’s integrity, which is why the verse attends to how the abundance is handled.
ALSO GROWS
mōmáomai: To blame; find fault.
μωμάομαι
This is the verb used here, connecting a charge against the handlers with the act of finding fault.
ámōmos: Without blemish; blameless.
ἄμωμος
Its opposite sense shows the same word-family’s image of a work free from a visible flaw.
THE PATTERN
Abundance entrusted to service is kept credible through transparent care.
Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.THE THREAD
As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.The Greek verb translated “minister” belongs to the same word family as “administered” here, whose core sense is serving another. That shared root reveals stewardship as abundance moving through service toward others.
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