What Does Matthew 7:16 Mean in the King James?
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
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
A convincing disguise cannot change what a tree yields.
THE MEANING
A person’s nature becomes recognizable in what comes from them. A claim may sound persuasive, but the life it produces bears a distinct yield: grapes do not emerge from thorns, nor figs from thistles.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that a convincing appearance or spiritual claim proves a voice trustworthy dissolves here; what that voice consistently produces reveals its nature.
THE ROOT
καρπῶν
karpōn
GROWS FROM
καρπ-
karp-
Fruit, yield, produce.
“fruits” in this verse is karpōn. The Greek word carries both the concrete fruit and the yield something produces. The verse makes a tree’s fruit legible as evidence of its nature: what comes forth cannot be separated from what bears it.
ALSO GROWS
karpophoreō: To bear or produce fruit.
καρποφορέω
This verb makes explicit the tree’s act of yielding: its nature becomes visible in what it produces.
karpophoria: Fruit-bearing, fruitfulness.
καρποφορία
This form names the resulting fruitfulness, showing that fruit is a sustained yield, not just an appearance.
ἐπιγνώσεσθε
epignōsesthe
GROWS FROM
γινωσκ-
ginōsk-
To know, recognize, perceive.
“know” in this verse is epignōsesthe. The verb here means to recognize or discern them. The fruit is what makes recognition possible: the verse joins knowing to what can actually be seen in a life.
ALSO GROWS
gnōsis: Knowledge.
γνῶσις
This noun shares the knowing root and highlights the recognition at the heart of the verse.
epignōsis: Recognition, knowledge.
ἐπίγνωσις
This related form echoes the verse’s language of recognizing someone by the yield they show.
THE PATTERN
A tree’s nature becomes visible in the fruit it produces.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,THE THREAD
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.This verse repeats the same Greek word for fruit, καρπός (karpos), and makes the answer to the question explicit. Each tree yields fruit according to its nature, so the yield becomes a way to recognize the tree.
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