What Does Romans 15:31 Mean in the King James?
That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints;
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 Greek word for “accepted” means well-received: the work reaches the community through welcome.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two needs together: rescue from those who resist, and welcome from the people meant to receive the service. Service is neither automatically safe nor self-validating; its passage into the community depends on reception.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that good service automatically ensures protection and acceptance: both remain things the speaker asks for.
THE ROOT
εὐπρόσδεκτος
euprosdektos
GROWS FROM
δέχ
dech
Receive; welcome.
“accepted” in this verse is euprosdektos. The word means “well-received,” placing acceptance in the act of receiving. The service reaches the saints and is welcomed into shared life.
ALSO GROWS
prosdechomai: Welcome; receive.
προσδέχομαι
It makes the connection between acceptance and receiving explicit.
apodechomai: Receive; welcome.
ἀποδέχομαι
It shows the same root at work when someone takes in what is offered.
ἀπειθούντων
apeithountōn
GROWS FROM
πειθ
peith
Persuade; be persuaded.
“do not believe” in this verse is apeithountōn. The Greek word carries the added shade of refusing to be persuaded. Opposition has an active edge here, making the requested rescue concrete.
ALSO GROWS
peithō: Persuade; win over.
πείθω
It reveals the persuasion at the root of the word for resistance.
apeitheō: Refuse to be persuaded; disobey.
ἀπειθέω
It names the refusal expressed by the verse’s phrase “do not believe.”
διακονία
diakonia
GROWS FROM
διακον-
diakon
Service; ministry.
This word belongs to a family that names both service and the servant who performs it. It points to practical ministry as the work at stake, which is why the community’s welcome matters.
ALSO GROWS
diakonos: Servant; minister.
διάκονος
It names the person engaged in the service.
diakoneō: Serve; minister.
διακονέω
It shows the same family as an action carried out for others.
THE PATTERN
Movement from threat toward shared purpose includes both release from constriction and reception by others.
I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.THE THREAD
That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.Romans 15:16 uses the same word, εὐπρόσδεκτος (euprosdektos, well-received), for the offering of the Gentiles. The later request about service among the saints echoes that image: welcome is part of the work’s movement into the community.
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