What Does Romans 9:31 Mean in the King James?
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of 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
The verse separates chasing a standard from arriving at alignment: pursuit can leave the thing sought unreached.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks to the gap between being occupied with what is right and arriving in alignment. Pursuit marks movement toward a goal; attainment means reaching it. The verse lets that gap stand plainly, without mistaking effort for arrival.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that rigorously following a righteous standard automatically means you have arrived at righteousness.
THE ROOT
δικαιοσύνης
dikaiosynēs
GROWS FROM
δικ-
dik-
Rightness and justice; being set in proper relation, or alignment.
The word translated “righteousness” belongs to a Greek word family about what is just and set right. Read as alignment, the verse describes a gap between pursuing an instruction aimed at rightness and actually arriving in that alignment.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: just, righteous
δίκαιος
This names the person who is in right relation, bringing the idea of alignment from an abstract quality to a lived state.
dikaioō: justify, declare right
δικαιόω
This related verb shows the same word family describing the act of setting someone in right standing.
dikaiosynē: righteousness, justice, alignment
δικαιοσύνη
This is the noun in the verse: the very alignment Israel pursues but does not attain.
διώκων
diōkōn
GROWS FROM
διωκ-
diōk-
To pursue, chase, or press after.
The verb rendered “followed after” is a chase word, and its Greek word family also names persecution. The verse exposes that intensity of pursuit does not itself equal arrival at the alignment being pursued.
ALSO GROWS
diōkō: pursue, chase, persecute
διώκω
This is the verb’s basic form, showing the active force behind “followed after.”
diōgmos: pursuit, persecution
διωγμός
This related noun reveals that the same word family can describe a relentless chase, sharpening the distinction between motion and arrival.
diōktēs: pursuer, persecutor
διώκτης
This names the one doing the pursuing and underscores how a person can be defined by the chase without having reached its goal.
THE PATTERN
Alignment is received through trust; pursuing its standard alone can miss its reality.
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.THE THREAD
What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.Just one verse earlier, the text names what this line leaves unstated: people who were not pursuing righteousness attain it through trust. The repeated word for righteousness opens as alignment, revealing the difference between chasing a standard and entering what it points toward.
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