What Does Romans 6:16 Mean in the King James?
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
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
Yielding is placing yourself at another’s disposal, so each act of obedience reveals whom your life is serving.
THE MEANING
The one you obey is the one you serve, and the direction of that service matters now. Missing leads toward death; obedience leads toward alignment.
THE ROOT
παριστάνετε
paristanete
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
To stand or set in place.
“yield yourselves” in this verse is paristanete. The verb translated “yield” carries the sense of presenting or placing yourself at someone’s disposal. Its root gives the choice a physical shape: where you place yourself is revealed by whom you obey.
ALSO GROWS
paristēmi: Present; place at someone’s disposal.
παρίστημι
This is the verb used for yielding here, making service an act of placing yourself in another’s hands.
anthistēmi: Stand against; resist.
ἀνθίστημι
This related form also grows from “stand,” showing how the same root can describe taking a position against a power.
ὑπακούετε
hypakouete
GROWS FROM
ἀκούω
akouō
To hear or listen.
“obey” in this verse is hypakouete. The verb for obeying is formed with the word for hearing: obedience is listening under a voice. The verse connects what you listen to with whom you serve.
ALSO GROWS
akoē: Hearing; what is heard.
ἀκοή
It keeps the root’s connection between receiving a voice and responding to it.
hypakouō: Obey; listen under.
ὑπακούω
This is the verb family behind “obey,” joining listening with the direction of service.
δικαιοσύνην
dikaiosynēn
GROWS FROM
δίκαιος
dikaios
Right or just; aligned with what is right.
Here righteousness gives obedience a direction: a life becoming aligned with what is right. The word family also names the just person and the act of setting right, so this alignment is lived and enacted.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: Just; right; aligned.
δίκαιος
It describes the quality toward which the obedience in this verse moves.
dikaioō: Set right; justify.
δικαιόω
This related verb makes the family’s movement toward rightness visible as an act.
THE PATTERN
The one who receives your service shapes the direction of your life.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.THE THREAD
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.Romans 12:1 uses the same verb translated “present” that appears as “yield” here: the self is placed in service. The connection makes the choice in this verse concrete, the direction of obedience determines where the self is presented.
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