What Does Hebrews 13:7 Mean in the King James?
Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
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 trust held up for imitation becomes visible in the direction and outcome of a whole life.
THE MEANING
The people who guide you speak God’s word, and their way of life gives that word a visible shape now. Their trust is something you can see embodied over time and take as a pattern.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that spiritual authority alone makes a life worth copying; the verse points you to the outcome of a person’s conduct and the trust embodied there.
THE ROOT
μιμεῖσθε
mimeisthe
GROWS FROM
μιμ-
mim-
To imitate or take another’s pattern as one’s own.
The verb translated “follow” carries the sense of imitation: making a pattern your own. The verse focuses that imitation on a person’s trust, considered alongside the course of their life.
ALSO GROWS
mimētēs: imitator, follower
μιμητής
It names someone who takes another person’s pattern as a model.
mimēsis: imitation
μίμησις
It makes clear that this following involves embodying a pattern, not merely moving behind someone.
πίστιν
pistin
GROWS FROM
πειθ-
peith-
To persuade or be persuaded; to trust.
The faith here is trust: leaning your full weight on what is trusted. The verse places that trust in view through the life that carries it, so it is more than a private opinion.
ALSO GROWS
peithō: persuade, convince, win trust
πείθω
It shows the persuasive, trust-forming sense in the same word family.
pistos: trustworthy, reliable
πιστός
It connects trust with a quality that can be seen in someone’s conduct.
ἔκβασιν
ekbasin
GROWS FROM
βαίνω
bainō
To step or go; ἔκβασις (ekbasis) can mean an outcome or a way out.
“End” here points to the outcome of a life, while “conversation” means conduct. The verse directs attention to where a person’s way of life comes out, not only to what that person says.
ALSO GROWS
anabainō: go up, ascend
ἀναβαίνω
It carries the same root of going or stepping into a direction.
katabainō: go down, descend
καταβαίνω
Together with “go up,” it shows how this root can describe the course a person takes.
THE PATTERN
A life’s trust becomes visible in its course, and its outcome can become a pattern others follow.
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.THE THREAD
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.The Greek word ἔκβασις (ekbasis, outcome or way out) appears in both verses: Hebrews uses it for the outcome of a life, while Corinthians uses it for the way out God provides. The shared word makes the “end” more than a final point: it is where a path comes out.
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