What Does Romans 2:6 Mean in the King James?
Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
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
“Render” carries the sense of giving back: what is given to each person corresponds to what that person has done.
THE MEANING
This verse says that what comes to each person corresponds to their deeds. Your actions remain in view as the measure named here; you are not reduced to an abstract label.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that what you do is finally inconsequential: the verse says each person receives according to their deeds.
THE ROOT
ἀποδώσει
apodōsei
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
Give, grant, or present; the verb in this verse adds the sense of giving back.
The verse’s verb is built on “give,” with the compound carrying the sense of “give back.” English “render” can sound like a formal transfer; the Greek keeps the return within the verb itself, bringing the action and its answering measure close together.
ALSO GROWS
antapodidōmi: Repay or recompense.
ἀνταποδίδωμι
This compound makes the return in the verse’s “render” especially clear: it uses the same giving root for repayment.
metadidōmi: Share or impart.
μεταδίδωμι
The same giving root can describe sharing; here its compound points to what is returned to each person.
ἔργα
erga
GROWS FROM
ἐργ-
erg-
Work, activity, or something done.
The word family behind “deeds” is ἔργον (ergon, “work” or “action”). The root keeps the verse focused on concrete activity, while “according to” ties what is rendered to what is done.
ALSO GROWS
ergazomai: Work, labor, or carry something out.
ἐργάζομαι
This branch shows the active quality of the deeds named in the verse.
ergasia: Work, business, or activity.
ἐργασία
This branch keeps the root grounded in what a person actually does.
THE PATTERN
What is rendered to each person corresponds to what that person does.
Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.THE THREAD
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.The same verb, ἀποδώσει (apodōsei, “will give back”), appears in both verses: here it names what is rendered according to deeds, and there it describes the Father’s response to what is done in secret. The shared verb brings unseen actions into the same field of giving back.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us