What Does Hebrews 13:16 Mean in the King James?
But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
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 you share for another’s good is called a sacrifice that pleases God.
THE MEANING
Doing good and sharing in common are living acts of worship. What passes from your hands into another person’s need is named as a sacrifice, and God takes pleasure in this shared life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that only explicitly religious offerings please God, while ordinary generosity sits outside worship.
THE ROOT
κοινωνία
koinōnia
GROWS FROM
κοινός
koinos
common; shared
“communicate” in this verse is koinōnia. Koinōnia means participation in what is held in common. The same word family names what is shared, so this verse presents practical generosity as an offering: what you have moves into a life held in common.
ALSO GROWS
koinos: common; shared
κοινός
Its sense of what belongs in common reveals that sharing here means more than conversation: it is participation in another’s good.
koinōneō: to share; participate
κοινωνέω
This verb shows the active shape of koinōnia: entering into what another has or needs.
THE PATTERN
God receives concrete care and shared provision as offerings.
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.And all that believed were together, and had all things common;But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.THE THREAD
And all that believed were together, and had all things common;The word translated “common” is κοινά (koina), from the same word family as κοινωνία (koinōnia), “sharing in common.” Acts shows the lived shape of what Hebrews names as sacrifice: what is held becomes shared.
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