What Does Revelation 14:4 Mean in the King James?
These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
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 virgins are named as a first yield bought from humanity and belonging to God and the Lamb.
THE MEANING
The verse describes this company as not defiled with women and calls them virgins; its language is explicitly sexual. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes, and they are bought from among humanity as a first yield to God and the Lamb. Sexual abstinence, movement, and belonging stand together as their identifying marks.
THE ROOT
ἠγοράσθησαν
ēgorasthēsan
GROWS FROM
ἀγορά
agora
Marketplace; a place of exchange.
The verb rendered “redeemed” uses marketplace language: this company is bought from among humanity. The phrase “unto God, and to the Lamb” names those to whom they belong.
ALSO GROWS
agora: Marketplace
ἀγορά
This noun supplies the concrete marketplace image beneath the word for buying.
agorazō: Buy, purchase
ἀγοράζω
This is the verb used here: the company is described as bought.
exagorazō: Buy out; redeem
ἐξαγοράζω
This related form carries the same purchase language, with the added sense of buying out.
ἀπαρχή
aparchē
GROWS FROM
ἀρχή
archē
Beginning, first portion, source.
The word names them as the first yield, drawing on a word family for beginning and source. Firstfruits are the opening portion of a harvest, so the image marks this company as an initial share set toward God and the Lamb.
ALSO GROWS
archē: Beginning, source, first principle
ἀρχή
This related noun carries the sense of what comes first or stands at the source.
archō: Begin; rule or lead
ἄρχω
This related verb links beginning with taking precedence or leading.
ἐμολύνθησαν
emolynthēsan
GROWS FROM
μολυν-
molyn-
Stain, soil, pollute.
The verb can mean to stain or soil, so “defiled” carries an image of marking by contact. Here the verse applies that image to sex with women and calls the group virgins; the sexual boundary remains part of what the text says.
ALSO GROWS
molynō: Stain, soil, defile
μολύνω
This is the verb’s dictionary form and preserves the image of pollution as a stain.
molysma: Defilement, pollution
μόλυσμα
This related noun names the resulting pollution, showing the same stain image as a condition.
THE PATTERN
The first yield belongs to God and signals the larger harvest that follows.
The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.THE THREAD
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.The same Greek word translated “firstfruits” appears in both verses. Here the company is the first yield belonging to God and the Lamb; in Corinthians, the first yield is the risen Christ, whose rising points toward those who follow.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us