What Does Philippians 3:6 Mean in the King James?
Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
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
In Greek, “persecuting” is also the verb “pursuing,” so the verse locates zeal’s meaning in the direction it drives you.
THE MEANING
Your zeal is visible in what it pursues: conviction can drive you toward the assembly as persecution. You can carry a record of blamelessness within a rule while that pursuit harms the assembly.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A sincere zeal and a blameless record do not prove that your pursuit is rightly directed.
THE ROOT
διώκων
diōkōn
GROWS FROM
διωκ-
diōk-
Pursue, chase, press after; when the pursuit is hostile, persecute.
“persecuting” in this verse is diōkōn. The Greek verb can describe pursuit or persecution: the chase itself takes its character from whom it targets. Here zeal is not merely an inner feeling; it becomes active pursuit of the assembly.
ALSO GROWS
diōkō: Pursue, chase, press after.
διώκω
This is the verb’s basic sense, revealing the movement hidden inside “persecuting.”
diōgmos: Persecution, hostile pursuit.
διωγμός
This noun names the hostile form of the same pursuit enacted in the verse.
ζῆλος
zēlos
GROWS FROM
ζηλ-
zēl-
Ardor, fervor, zeal; also jealousy or rivalry.
“zeal” in this verse is zēlos. The word can name intense devotion, but its family also carries jealousy and rivalry. The verse places that heat beside a pursuing verb, so its direction becomes visible in action.
ALSO GROWS
zēloō: Be zealous, be jealous, or strive eagerly.
ζηλόω
The verb shows that zeal is a force expressed through desire and effort.
zēlōtēs: A zealous person, an adherent or zealot.
ζηλωτής
This branch names a person by the intensity that drives their pursuit.
δικαιοσύνην
dikaiosynēn
GROWS FROM
δικ-
dik-
Rightness and justice; alignment with what is right.
“righteousness” in this verse is dikaiosynēn. The word carries the sense of alignment, not only an abstract moral score. Here that alignment is measured within the law, while persecution sits beside it; the verse does not let legal blamelessness erase the force of the pursuit.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: Just, right, aligned.
δίκαιος
This related word describes the person or thing in a right relation.
dikaioō: Set right, justify, declare just.
δικαιόω
This verb shows the same word-family describing a person being placed or recognized as aligned.
THE PATTERN
Zeal’s intensity does not by itself establish alignment; its object and acts expose its direction.
Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.THE THREAD
For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.This verse uses the same Greek word for righteousness (δικαιοσύνη, dikaiosynē, alignment), then distinguishes God’s alignment from an alignment people establish for themselves. Beside Philippians 3:6, it makes blamelessness under the law a stated measure while leaving the direction of zeal visible in what it pursues.
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