What Does Romans 11:13 Mean in the King James?
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
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 apostle makes his service great by naming its reach: it is directed toward the nations.
THE MEANING
The verse places the nations in the address: this service is aimed toward people beyond the speaker’s own people. Its work is made visible through those it serves.
THE ROOT
μεγαλύνω
megalynō
GROWS FROM
μεγαλ-
megal-
Great, large; to μεγαλύνω is to make great, enlarge, or extol.
The root names enlargement: “magnify” belongs to the same Greek family as “great” and “great things.” The line makes the scale of the service visible, so the office is understood by the reach of its work.
ALSO GROWS
megas: Great, large
μέγας
This is the root family’s basic sense: the service is made great in view.
megaleia: Great things, mighty deeds
μεγαλεῖα
The same family describes deeds of great scale, linking magnifying the office with making the work’s reach visible.
διακονία
diakonia
GROWS FROM
διακον-
diakon-
Service, ministry; work carried out for another.
“Office” can name a position, while διακονία names service in action. The same Greek word is translated “ministry” in Acts 20:24, holding the honor of the role together with the service it performs.
ALSO GROWS
diakoneō: To serve, minister
διακονέω
The verb shows διακονία as something enacted: service directed toward others.
diakonos: Servant, minister
διάκονος
The related noun names the one carrying out the service, joining the role to its work.
THE PATTERN
Service is enlarged when its work reaches beyond one people to others.
And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.THE THREAD
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.The same Greek noun, διακονία (diakonia, service or ministry), appears as “office” here and “ministry” in Acts. The shared root reveals the role as received service, made great through the work it carries out.
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