What Does 2 Thessalonians 3:4 Mean in the King James?
And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.
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
Greek lets confidence and obedience grow from the same root: trust is already taking shape in what you do and continue to do.
THE MEANING
The Lord is the ground of confidence concerning you, and your response is already active: you do what is entrusted to you and continue doing it. The verse holds present action and future action together as one ongoing response.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that instruction only arrives as suspicion or coercion: here, command sits alongside confidence that you are already responding.
THE ROOT
πεποίθαμεν
pepoithamen
GROWS FROM
πείθω
peithō
to persuade; in the middle or passive, to be persuaded, trust, or obey
The English word “confidence” can sound like a private feeling, but this Greek word family also gives “obey”: being persuaded can become responsive action. The verse places confidence in the Lord beside what you are already doing and will continue doing.
ALSO GROWS
peithomai: to be persuaded, trust, or obey
πείθομαι
Hebrews 13:17 uses a form of this verb translated “Obey,” showing how trust and responsive action share a Greek root.
apeitheō: to refuse persuasion; disobey
ἀπειθέω
In Romans 2:8, this related form describes refusing the truth, revealing the root’s contrast between accepting and resisting persuasion.
ποιεῖτε
poieite
GROWS FROM
ποιέω
poieō
to do, make, or bring about
“do and will do” in this verse is poieite. “Do” and “will do” are forms of the same Greek verb, holding present practice and future continuation together. The verse presents the response as something already taking shape and carried forward.
ALSO GROWS
poiēma: a thing made; workmanship
ποίημα
Ephesians 2:10 uses this word for God’s workmanship, linking what is made with the life of action that follows.
poiētēs: a doer; maker
ποιητής
James 1:22 uses this word for a doer of the word, showing how hearing becomes visible in action.
THE PATTERN
Trust in God holds present practice and future continuation together.
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.THE THREAD
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.“Obey” here is a form of πείθω (peithō), the same root behind “confidence” in the verse you are reading. English separates the words, while Greek lets you see trust and responsive action as branches of one root.
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