What Does Romans 14:3 Mean in the King James?

Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Romans 14:3 · 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

God’s welcome makes eating or abstaining too small to decide who belongs to him.

The verse meets you on either side of the table: eating and abstaining do not set the measure of another person’s standing. God has already welcomed that person to himself, and this welcome remains real while your practices differ. The difference stays, but it does not become a verdict on belonging.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that a difference in food practice makes another person beneath you, or puts their place with God in your hands.

προσελάβετο

proselabeto

GROWS FROM

λαμβάνω

lambanō

take, receive

Under “received” is the image of taking someone to oneself: ⁨προσλαμβάνω⁩ (proslambanō, receive or welcome to oneself) joins ⁨πρός⁩ (pros, toward or to) with ⁨λαμβάνω⁩ (lambanō, take or receive). God’s action is a welcome that takes the person in, so another person’s food practice cannot decide whether that person belongs.

ALSO GROWS

lambanō: take, receive

λαμβάνω

This is the seed inside the verb in the verse: the action is to take or receive a person.

paralambanō: receive, take along

παραλαμβάνω

It carries the same ⁨λαμβάνω⁩ (lambanō, take or receive) seed in another compound, showing reception as taking someone into relation.

God’s welcome displaces the human categories that turn difference into a reason to exclude.

Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:19 · KJVThe stranger’s outsider status becomes a reason for welcome rather than a measure of worth.
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Acts 10:34-35 · KJVGod’s acceptance crosses the boundaries people use to sort one another.
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
James 2:1 · KJVFaith in Jesus and partial treatment of people do not belong together.
Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.
Romans 15:7 · KJV

Romans 15:7 uses the same verb, ⁨προσλαμβάνω⁩ (proslambanō, receive or welcome to oneself), for receiving one another as Christ receives you. The shared word links God’s welcome here with the welcome extended between people.

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Romans 14:3 KJV Meaning