What Does Romans 3:20 Mean in the King James?
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
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
Instruction exposes the miss; it does not turn human performance into alignment.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now: instruction brings your missing into recognition, while doing its deeds does not make any human being aligned in God’s sight. What it reveals is not the same as what it resolves.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that enough correct deeds can make you aligned before God. Here, instruction discloses the missing; performance does not become a verdict of alignment.
THE ROOT
δικαιωθήσεται
dikaiōthēsetai
GROWS FROM
δικαιόω (dikaioō), from δίκαιος (dikaios)
To render or regard as right; this word family carries the sense of rightness and alignment.
“justified” in this verse is dikaiōthēsetai. The Greek word belongs to the family of rightness and alignment. In this verse, that makes the contrast clear: deeds of instruction do not produce alignment before God’s sight.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: right, just, aligned
δίκαιος
It names the quality associated with being justified in this word family.
dikaiosynē: righteousness, alignment
δικαιοσύνη
This related noun makes visible the shared language of rightness and alignment.
ἐπίγνωσις
epignōsis
GROWS FROM
γινώσκω
ginōskō
To know, recognize, or perceive.
“knowledge” in this verse is epignōsis. The word family joins knowing with recognition. The instruction does not create the missing; it brings the missing into view.
ALSO GROWS
gnōsis: knowledge, knowing
γνῶσις
This related noun shares the basic idea of knowing.
epiginōskō: recognize, come to know
ἐπιγινώσκω
This related verb shows the movement from what is unseen to what is recognized.
ἁμαρτίας
hamartias
GROWS FROM
ἁμαρτάνω
hamartanō
To miss or go wrong; the word family names missing the mark.
“sin” in this verse is hamartias. The word points to the missing itself. Instruction makes the miss recognizable, but seeing it is not the same as making it disappear.
ALSO GROWS
hamartia: missing, missing the mark
ἁμαρτία
This is the noun used here for what the instruction makes known.
hamartēma: a fault, a miss
ἁμάρτημα
This related noun keeps the focus on the specific miss rather than an abstract label.
THE PATTERN
Instruction brings what is hidden into view, while exposure is distinct from alignment.
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:THE THREAD
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.The same word family for missing appears here, alongside the same link between instruction and knowing. The instruction makes the miss recognizable; recognition itself is not alignment.
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