What Does James 1:18 Mean in the King James?
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
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 verse makes life in truth a birth rather than an achievement: God’s will brings you forth as an opening yield among his creatures.
THE MEANING
God’s own will is the source of your life in truth, and the word of truth brings you forth. You are named as a kind of first yield among what God creates; your life belongs within what is coming into being from God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that spiritual life is self-made or earned: the verse locates its beginning in God’s will and truth.
THE ROOT
ἀπεκύησεν
apekyēsen
GROWS FROM
κυέω
kyéō
to be pregnant, conceive, or bring forth
“begat” in this verse is apekyēsen. James uses this birth verb again in 1:15, where desire brings forth sin and sin brings forth death; here God’s will brings you forth through truth. The same word sets two births side by side, with different sources and outcomes.
ALSO GROWS
kyéō: be pregnant; conceive
κυέω
This underlying verb opens the birth image inside “begat,” revealing the coming-forth as something carried before it appears.
apokyei: brings forth (James 1:15)
ἀποκύει
James uses this form for desire bringing forth sin; its shared root with “begat” makes the contrasting origins visible.
ἀπαρχήν
aparchēn
GROWS FROM
ἀρχ-
arch-
beginning, first place, or primacy
Firstfruits names the opening portion of a yield, carrying the sense of a beginning within it. The verse calls you a kind of first yield among God’s creatures: what God brings forth is already a sign of creation’s life.
ALSO GROWS
archē: beginning, origin, or first principle
ἀρχή
This root word makes the beginning contained in “firstfruits” audible.
archōn: ruler or chief
ἄρχων
This related form carries the root’s sense of primacy into the idea of one who holds first place.
THE PATTERN
Life originates in God, who brings it forth by his word.
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.THE THREAD
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.James uses the same Greek verb for “bringeth forth” in both verses: desire brings forth sin and death, while God’s will brings you forth through the word of truth. The shared root makes these contrasting births part of one pattern, with the source shaping what emerges.
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