What Does Ephesians 4:13 Mean in the King James?
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
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 “perfect man” is the whole community reaching maturity together, not one individual reaching flawlessness.
THE MEANING
Maturity is a shared arrival: “we all” grow into one trust and knowing of the Son, measured by Christ’s fullness. The verse’s “perfect man” pictures a community brought to full growth together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that spiritual maturity is a private achievement measured by personal flawlessness; here, “we all” arrive together.
THE ROOT
τέλειον
teleion
GROWS FROM
τέλος
telos
goal, end, intended completion
English “perfect” can suggest a state without any defect. This word family points to completion toward a goal, so the image is a community coming to maturity at the measure of Christ’s fullness.
ALSO GROWS
teleioō: bring to completion; bring to the intended end
τελειόω
It frames maturity as arrival at fullness rather than flawlessness.
teleiotēs: maturity, completeness
τελειότης
This related word names the mature state directly, clarifying what “perfect man” describes.
πίστεως
pisteōs
GROWS FROM
πείθω
peithō
persuade, be persuaded; trust
The word family ties faith to trust and to what is trustworthy, giving “unity of the faith” the sense of shared reliance rather than mere sameness of opinion. That trust belongs beside knowing the Son as part of the community’s growth.
ALSO GROWS
peithō: persuade, bring to trust
πείθω
It shows the trust at the heart of the “faith” in which the community becomes one.
pistos: trustworthy, firm, steady
πιστός
This branch shows trust as something steady enough to be shared and leaned on together.
THE PATTERN
Wholeness takes shape as many are gathered into one shared life.
A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.THE THREAD
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:The same Greek word rendered “perfect” here appears in Colossians as the aim of presenting each person mature in Christ. That link lets the singular “perfect man” point to shared maturity while keeping each person’s formation within it.
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