What Does Romans 16:25 Mean?
Now to the one who can set you firm according to my good news and the heralding of Jesus, the anointed one, according to the unveiling of the mystery, which was hushed through the ages.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,THE KEY
God makes you firm by unveiling what was hidden in the message of Jesus.
THE MEANING
You are being made firm through the message of Jesus Christ. What was hidden is coming into view, and that unveiling gives your life steady ground. God’s power meets you in what is revealed now.
THE ROOT
στηρίξαι
stērixai from stērizō
GROWS FROM
στηριζ-
stēriz-
Set firm; make stable.
“set you firm” in this verse is stērixai from stērizō. The Greek word translated “stablish” also describes setting something firmly in place. Its family links being made steady with a settled footing: the message of Jesus does more than inform you; it gives you ground to stand on.
ALSO GROWS
estērisen: He set firmly.
ἐστήρισεν
Luke 9:51 uses this form when Jesus “stedfastly set his face” toward Jerusalem, linking firmness with a direction firmly set.
stērigmos: Firmness, steadfastness.
στηριγμός
In 2 Peter 3:17, the same word family names the steadfastness one can fall from; here it names the footing God gives.
ἀποκάλυψιν
apokalypsin from apokalypsis
GROWS FROM
καλυπ- (kalypt-), in ἀποκαλύπτω (apokalyptō)
Cover; with apo- (“away”), uncover or reveal.
The Greek word for revelation carries the image of a covering being taken away. The mystery is disclosed, not invented: what was hidden comes into view, and this unveiling belongs to how you are made firm.
ALSO GROWS
kalyptō: Cover, conceal.
καλύπτω
James 5:20 uses this verb for what “shall hide” a multitude of sins, showing the covered side of the image.
apokalyptō: Uncover, reveal.
ἀποκαλύπτω
Matthew 11:25 uses this verb when hidden things are “revealed” to the childlike, showing the covering lifted away.
THE PATTERN
God brings truth into view and gives people light and a firm footing through it.
The opening of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the open ones.So that he may steady your hearts, unblemished in set-apartness before the face of God, even our Father, at the arrival of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, with all his set-apart ones.which in other generations was not made known to the sons of humankind, as it is now unveiled to his set-apart sent ones and prophets by the breath.THE THREAD
And it came to pass, when the days of his being taken up were filling full, he firmly set his face to go to Jerusalem.The Greek verb translated “stablish” in Romans 16:25 is the same verb translated “stedfastly set” here. The shared word links being made firm with a direction firmly set.
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