What Does Hebrews 2:14 Mean in the King James?
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
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
Death’s power is broken from inside the shared human condition: he takes the same flesh and blood and passes through death.
THE MEANING
Your flesh and blood are the human condition this verse places at the center of deliverance. The one who shares that condition meets death from within it, and the Slanderer’s power is rendered ineffective through death itself. Death remains real, yet its authority has a boundary.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that mortal flesh must be escaped before death can be overcome dissolves here: the power breaks through shared flesh and through death itself.
THE ROOT
καταργήσῃ
katargēsē
GROWS FROM
ἀργ- (in καταργέω, katargeō)
Idle or inactive; the verb carries the sense of rendering something inoperative.
“destroy” in this verse is katargēsē. The one who holds death’s power is rendered powerless. The same Greek verb describes death as “abolished” in 2 Timothy 1:10, revealing a power brought to inactivity.
ALSO GROWS
argos: Idle, inactive
ἀργός
This word carries the inactive state at the center of the family, giving καταργέω its image of reducing a power to inactivity.
katargēsis: Abolition, rendering inoperative
κατάργησις
This related noun shows the same family expressing the ending of an operation or power.
κεκοινώνηκεν
kekoinōnēken
GROWS FROM
κοινων-
koinōn-
What is common or shared; to participate in something held in common.
“partakers” in this verse is kekoinōnēken. The children have flesh and blood in common. The next clause uses μετέσχεν (meteschen, “took a share”) for his participation, placing him inside the human condition the children share.
ALSO GROWS
koinōnia: Sharing in common
κοινωνία
This familiar branch makes the common share in flesh and blood explicit.
koinōnos: Partner, participant
κοινωνός
A participant belongs to what is shared; the verse places him in the same human condition.
διάβολον
diabolon
GROWS FROM
διαβάλλω
diaballō
To slander or accuse; the word names the Slanderer.
“devil” in this verse is diabolon. The verse names the holder of death’s power by the character of the Slanderer. The word family exposes accusation as part of what this power does.
ALSO GROWS
diaballō: Slander, accuse
διαβάλλω
This verb names the action beneath the title: accusation directed against another.
diabolē: Slander, accusation
διαβολή
This noun names the accusation itself, showing the character carried in the word “devil.”
THE PATTERN
The power of death is broken by a life that passes through it and exceeds its dominion.
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.THE THREAD
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:The same Greek verb translated “destroy” here is translated “abolished” in this verse. Hebrews names the Slanderer as the one whose death-power is rendered ineffective; 2 Timothy names death itself as abolished, widening the scale of the same undoing.
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