What Does Romans 1:24 Mean in the King James?

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Romans 1:24 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

The verse frames judgment as a handover: desire within becomes dishonor enacted through the body.

God hands people over to desires already in their hearts, and those desires lead them to dishonor their bodies in their relations with one another. The verse traces a movement from inward desire to outward treatment of the body.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This undoes the belief that inward desire stays private and cannot shape how bodies are treated.

παρέδωκεν

paredōken

GROWS FROM

δίδωμι

didōmi

To give or grant; in ⁨παραδίδωμι⁩ (paradidōmi), to hand over or deliver.

“gave them up” in this verse is paredōken. The verb places God as the one handing them over, while the phrase locates the desires in their own hearts. Its word family also describes what is handed down or given back, sharpening the sense of a transfer into the desires’ own course.

ALSO GROWS

apodidōmi: Give back, render, or repay.

ἀποδίδωμι

It shows the same giving root in a transfer back or in response to what has been received.

paradosis: Tradition; what is handed down.

παράδοσις

It carries the same handover family into what is passed along, making the transfer in this verse the central image.

ἀτιμάζεσθαι

atimazesthai

GROWS FROM

τιμή

timē

Honor or value; the privative ⁨ἀ-⁩ (a-, without) in ⁨ἀτιμάζω⁩ (atimazō) marks the loss of honor.

“dishonour” in this verse is atimazesthai. The word family ties honor to worth and value, so the verse describes bodies being treated as though they lack worth. The passive form presents the bodies as receiving that dishonor.

ALSO GROWS

timaō: Honor or value.

τιμάω

It names the honor whose absence is expressed by dishonor.

timios: Precious or valued.

τίμιος

It shows the same root’s language of worth, clarifying what dishonoring withholds.

When people refuse what they know and choose their own course, judgment can take the form of being handed over to its consequences.

So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
Psalm 81:12 · KJVThe verse links being given up to following the desires and counsel of one’s own heart.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Proverbs 1:31 · KJVThe chosen way returns as its own consequence, filling those who chose it.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Romans 1:26 · KJVThe handover continues, as the desires named in this verse take a further form.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Romans 1:26 · KJV

The next verse repeats the same Greek verb for “gave them up,” carrying this verse’s “uncleanness” forward into “vile affections.” The repeated handover verb makes the transfer the hinge between desire and what follows.

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Romans 1:24 KJV Meaning