What Does 2 Timothy 1:7 Mean in the King James?
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
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
What God gives as breath strengthens, loves, and steadies the mind; fear is not its source.
THE MEANING
The breath God gives does not shape you through timid shrinking. It comes with power, faithful love, and a sound, self-governed mind. These belong together: strength without love is not the whole gift, and love does not exclude clear judgment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that fearfulness is the mark of God’s presence, or that power requires hardness. It names love and a sound mind alongside power as part of what God gives.
THE ROOT
πνεῦμα
pneuma
GROWS FROM
πνευ-
pneu-
Breath or air in motion; the Greek word can also mean spirit.
The Greek word holds breath and spirit together, where English often separates them. Here it names God’s gift, with breath still inside its range: a gift expressed through power, love, and steadiness.
ALSO GROWS
pneō: to breathe or blow
πνέω
This verb shares the breath-family of pneuma and keeps the image of living movement inside the word translated spirit.
pnoē: breath
πνοή
This related noun makes the breath meaning explicit and shows what English can conceal when it renders pneuma only as spirit.
δειλία
deilia
GROWS FROM
δειλ-
deil-
Timidity or cowardice; fear that shrinks from action.
The word points to shrinking timidity, not every form of caution or awareness of danger. The contrast is between a gift that strengthens and a fear that makes a person recoil.
ALSO GROWS
deilos: timid or cowardly
δειλός
This related adjective describes the shrinking quality carried by deilia.
deiliaō: to be timid or lose courage
δειλιάω
This verb shows deilia as a response that can take hold of a person, rather than the character of the breath God gives.
σωφρονισμός
sōphronismos
GROWS FROM
σωφρον-
sōphron-
Sound-mindedness expressed as self-command and clear judgment.
A sound mind here is more than intelligence: it is steadiness that can govern a response. The verse places that steadiness beside power and love, making clear judgment part of the gift rather than a rival to strength.
ALSO GROWS
sōphrōn: sound-minded or self-controlled
σώφρων
This related word names the quality of a person whose judgment is steady.
sōphroneō: to think soundly or exercise self-control
σωφρονέω
This verb shows sound-mindedness as an active way of thinking, not just a label for the mind.
THE PATTERN
The breath God gives meets fear with strengthening presence, love, and steadiness.
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.THE THREAD
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.Romans uses the same Greek word, πνεῦμα (pneuma), for spirit. In both verses, the breath God gives is set against fear’s bondage and described through a different reality: here power, love, and a sound mind; there adoption and belonging.
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