What Does Romans 7:18 Mean in the King James?
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
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 will to do good can lie beside the reader without the good itself dwelling in the flesh.
THE MEANING
This verse names a present divide: the desire for good can be real while the ability to bring it into action is not found in the flesh. It keeps willing and doing distinct, even when both belong to the same person. The gap is named without pretending it has already been resolved.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that sincerely wanting good proves you can carry it out; the verse distinguishes a will that is present from an ability to work the good that is not found.
THE ROOT
οἰκεῖ
oikei
GROWS FROM
οἰκ-
oik-
House or home; as a verb, to reside or inhabit.
The word for “dwelleth” carries the sense of residence: the verse describes what has made a home in the flesh. That is different from the will, which is merely present alongside the reader.
ALSO GROWS
oikos: House, household
οἶκος
The family resemblance makes the image of dwelling concrete: the question is what occupies the inner house.
oikodomeō: Build a house; build up
οἰκοδομέω
This branch shares the house-root and shows its reach into building; here, the verse speaks of what is or is not at home in the flesh.
oikia: House, household
οἰκία
Like “dwelleth,” this word keeps the idea of home and residence in view rather than mere nearness.
παράκειται
parakeitai
GROWS FROM
κει-
kei-
To lie, be laid, or be situated; παρά adds the sense of beside or alongside.
“Present with me” is spatial language: the willing lies alongside the speaker. It is near, but the verse does not say it has become the work of good; nearness, inhabitation, and action remain distinct.
ALSO GROWS
keimai: Lie, be laid, be situated
κεῖμαι
This base verb supplies the image of something occupying a position.
prokeimai: Lie before; be set before
πρόκειμαι
This related form keeps the spatial sense of being placed in relation to someone.
parakeimai: Lie beside; be present alongside
παράκειμαι
This is the word family behind “is present with me,” giving the will the position of something nearby.
κατεργάζεσθαι
katergazesthai
GROWS FROM
ἐργ-
erg-
Work, deed, activity.
The verb for “perform” is built on the word-family for work, so it carries the sense of bringing the good into effect. The verse locates the gap not in whether good is desired, but in whether it becomes action.
ALSO GROWS
ergon: Work, deed
ἔργον
The root’s noun form makes the absent performance concrete as an uncompleted deed.
ergazomai: Work, do, accomplish
ἐργάζομαι
This related verb shows the root’s active sense of carrying something out.
energeia: Working, operation, activity
ἐνέργεια
This branch emphasizes effective activity, sharpening the distinction between willing and bringing good into action.
THE PATTERN
A willing desire and the capacity to enact it are distinct realities.
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.THE THREAD
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.The verb translated “dwelleth” comes from οἰκέω (oikeō, to dwell or make a home), the same word-family used in verse 18. The repeated image turns the inner conflict toward what has taken up residence, extending the gap between the good the reader wills and what dwells in the flesh.
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