What Does Romans 14:17 Mean in the King James?
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
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
God’s governance is not a menu to follow; it is alignment, wholeness, and joy carried by the Set-Apart Breath.
THE MEANING
God’s governance is present in your life as alignment, wholeness, and joy in the Set-Apart Breath. Food and drink are part of embodied life, while these qualities name the deeper order shaping you now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that your standing with God rises or falls with what you eat or drink.
THE ROOT
πνεύματι
pneumati
GROWS FROM
πνευ- / πνε- (pneu- / pne-)
The Greek word family of breathing and blowing; πνεῦμα (pneuma) means breath.
“Holy Ghost” in this verse is pneumati. English “Ghost” can make this sound separate from living breath, while the Greek word holds breath and spirit together. The verse places joy within the Set-Apart Breath, joining God’s governance to living presence.
ALSO GROWS
pneō: to breathe or blow
πνέω
This verb shares the breath-and-blowing word family at the heart of πνεῦμα (pneuma).
pnoē: breath
πνοή
This related noun makes the breath meaning of the family explicit.
pneumatikos: pertaining to breath or spirit
πνευματικός
This adjective carries the same word family into descriptions of what is of the Breath.
δικαιοσύνη
dikaiosynē
GROWS FROM
δικ-
dik-
The Greek word family of justice, rightness, and right order.
“righteousness; alignment” in this verse is dikaiosynē. The family of δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē) joins alignment with justice and right relation. The verse names this alignment as part of God’s present governance, not merely as a label for a person.
ALSO GROWS
dikē: justice or right order
δίκη
This related word shows the justice carried within the righteousness family.
dikaios: just or aligned
δίκαιος
This describes one who is in right relation, bringing the family’s alignment into view.
dikaioō: to justify or set right
δικαιόω
This verb expresses the movement toward right relation that the verse names as alignment.
εἰρήνη
eirēnē
GROWS FROM
εἰρην-
eirēn-
The Greek word family of peace and wholeness.
“peace; wholeness” in this verse is eirēnē. The verse’s peace is more than a quiet surface: its word family includes both living at peace and making peace. Wholeness here is a lived condition that belongs alongside alignment and joy.
ALSO GROWS
eirēneuō: to live in peace or be at peace
εἰρηνεύω
This related verb shows peace as a condition lived out.
eirēnopoios: a peacemaker
εἰρηνοποιός
This related word shows peace as something made and restored between people.
THE PATTERN
God’s governance is disclosed by its living effects, alignment, wholeness, and joy, rather than by outward observance or spectacle.
And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.THE THREAD
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.Romans 8:6 brings πνεῦμα (pneuma, breath) and εἰρήνη (eirēnē, wholeness) together: the breath-oriented mind is life and wholeness. This opens Romans 14:17 by showing alignment, wholeness, and joy as expressions of life in the Set-Apart Breath.
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