2 Corinthians 12:20

KJV1611 – Modern English

For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you wish not; lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults;

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Φοβοῦμαι γὰρ, μή πως, ἐλθὼν, οὐχ οἵους θέλω εὕρω ὑμᾶς, κἀγὼ εὑρεθῶ ὑμῖν οἷον οὐ θέλετε: μή πως ἔρεις, ζῆλοι, θυμοί, ἐριθείαι, καταλαλιαί, ψιθυρισμοί, φυσιώσεις, ἀκαταστασίαι:

Transliteration

I phoboumai for, mē pōs, having elthōn, not such as I thelō eurō you, and I heurethō to you such as not you thelete: mē pōs ereis, zēloi, thymoi, eritheiai, katalaliai, psithyrismoi, physiōseis, akatastasiai:

Grammar Details

• *phoboumai*: present indicative, middle/passive, 1st singular - I fear
• *mē pōs*: negative particle with indefinite adverb - lest somehow
• *elthōn*: aorist participle, active, nominative, masculine, singular - having come
• *thelō*: present indicative, active, 1st singular - I wish/want
• *eurō*: aorist subjunctive, active, 1st singular - I might find
• *heurethō*: aorist subjunctive, passive, 1st singular - I might be found
• *thelete*: present indicative, active, 2nd plural - you wish/want
• *ereis*: nominative, feminine, plural - strifes/contentions
• *zēloi*: nominative, masculine, plural - jealousies/rivalries
• *thymoi*: nominative, masculine, plural - outbursts of anger
• *eritheiai*: nominative, feminine, plural - selfish ambitions
• *katalaliai*: nominative, feminine, plural - slanders/evil speakings
• *psithyrismoi*: nominative, masculine, plural - whisperings/secret slanders
• *physiōseis*: nominative, feminine, plural - puffings up/conceits
• *akatastasiai*: nominative, feminine, plural - disorders/disturbances

Word Meanings

• *phoboumai*: I fear/I am afraid
• *elthōn*: having come/when I come
• *thelō*: I wish/I want/I desire
• *eurō*: I might find/I may find
• *heurethō*: I might be found/I may be found
• *ereis*: strifes/contentions/quarrels
• *zēloi*: jealousies/rivalries/envyings
• *thymoi*: outbursts of anger/rages/furies
• *eritheiai*: selfish ambitions/factions/rivalries
• *katalaliai*: slanders/evil speakings/backbitings
• *psithyrismoi*: whisperings/secret slanders/gossips
• *physiōseis*: puffings up/conceits/inflations
• *akatastasiai*: disorders/disturbances/tumults

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  For I fear that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be strife, jealousy, anger, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  For{G1063} I fear,{G5399} lest{G3381} by any means, when I come,{G2064} I should{G2147} find{G2147} you{G5209} not{G3756} such as{G3634} I would,{G2309} and{G2504} should myself{G2504} be found{G2147} of you{G5213} such as{G3634} ye would{G2309} not;{G3756} lest{G3381} by any means [there should be] strife,{G2054} jealousy,{G2205} wraths,{G2372} factions,{G2052} backbitings,{G2636} whisperings,{G5587} swellings,{G5450} tumults;{G181}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  For{G1063} I fear{G5399}{(G5736)}, lest{G3381}{G4458}, when I come{G2064}{(G5631)}, I shall{G2147} not{G3756} find{G2147}{(G5632)} you{G5209} such as{G3634} I would{G2309}{(G5719)}, and that I{G2504} shall be found{G2147}{(G5686)} unto you{G5213} such as{G3634} ye would{G2309}{(G5719)} not{G3756}: lest{G3381}{G4458} there be debates{G2054}, envyings{G2205}, wraths{G2372}, strifes{G2052}, backbitings{G2636}, whisperings{G5587}, swellings{G5450}, tumults{G181}:

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  For I feare lest it come to passe that when I come I shall not fynde you soche as I wolde: and I shalbe foude vnto you soche as ye wolde not: I feare lest ther be founde amoge you debate envyinge wrath stryfe backbytynges whisperynges swellynges and discorde.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  For I feare, lest whan I come, I shal not fynde you soch as I wolde: and lest ye shal fynde me soch as ye wolde not: lest there be amonge you, debates, envyenges, wrathes, stryuynges, bacbytinges, whysperinges, swellinges, vproures:

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  For I feare least when I come, I shall not finde you such as I would: and that I shalbe found vnto you such as ye woulde not, and least there be strife, enuying, wrath, contentions, backebitings, whisperings, swellings and discord.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  For I feare lest when I come, I shall not fynde you such as I woulde: and that I shalbe founde vnto you, such as ye woulde not: lest there be debates, enuyinges, wrathes, strifes, backbitinges, whisperinges, swellinges, & seditions:

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and [that] I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest [there be] debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  For I am afraid that by any means, when I come, I might find you not the way I want to, and that I might be found by you as you don't desire; that by any means there would be strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, whisperings, proud thoughts, riots;

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  for I fear lest, having come, not such as I wish I may find you, and I -- I may be found by you such as ye do not wish, lest there be strifes, envyings, wraths, revelries, evil-speakings, whisperings, puffings up, insurrections,

• American Standard Version (1901)

  For I fear, lest by any means, when I come, I should find you not such as I would, and should myself be found of you such as ye would not; lest by any means `there should be' strife, jealousy, wraths, factions, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults;

• American Standard Version (1901)

  For I fear, lest by any means, when I come, I should find you not such as I would, and should myself be found of you such as ye would not; lest by any means [there should be] strife, jealousy, wraths, factions, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults;

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  For I have a fear that, when I come, you may not be answering to my desire, and that I may not be answering to yours; that there may be fighting, hate, angry feeling, divisions, evil talk about others, secrets, thoughts of pride, outbursts against authority;

• World English Bible (2000)

  For I am afraid that by any means, when I come, I might find you not the way I want to, and that I might be found by you as you don't desire; that by any means there would be strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, whisperings, proud thoughts, riots;

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  For I am afraid that somehow when I come I will not find you what I wish, and you will find me not what you wish. I am afraid that somehow there may be quarreling, jealousy, intense anger, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

Referenced Verses

• Rom 1:29 : 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
• 1 Cor 1:11 : 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you.
• Gal 5:15 : 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another.
• 1 Pet 2:1 : 1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking,
• 2 Pet 2:18 : 18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through wantonness, those who have barely escaped from those who live in error.
• Jude 1:16 : 16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.
• Ps 41:7 : 7 All who hate me whisper together against me; they devise my harm against me.
• Prov 16:28 : 28 A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.
• Gal 5:19-21 : 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousy, wrath, strife, seditious, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
• Gal 5:26 : 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
• Eph 4:31-32 : 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
• Jas 3:14-16 : 14 But if you have bitter envy and strife in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where envy and strife are, there is confusion and every evil work.
• Jas 4:1-5 : 1 From where do wars and fights among you come? Do they not come from your desires that war within your members? 2 You desire and do not have; you kill, and covet, and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, that you may spend it on your desires. 4 You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5 Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The spirit that dwells in us yearns jealously?
• 1 Cor 3:3-4 : 3 For you are still carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one says, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are you not carnal?
• 1 Cor 4:6-8 : 6 And these things, brothers, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, so that none of you be puffed up for one against another. 7 For who makes you different from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? 8 Now you are full, now you are rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed, I wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you!
• 1 Cor 4:18-21 : 18 Now some are puffed up as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know not the words of those who are puffed up, but the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. 21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?
• 1 Cor 5:3-5 : 3 For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has done this deed, as though I were present. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
• 1 Cor 6:7-8 : 7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because you go to law one with another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather allow yourselves to be defrauded? 8 No, you do wrong and defraud, and that your brethren.
• 1 Cor 11:16-19 : 16 But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God. 17 Now in this that I declare to you, I do not praise you, that you come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it. 19 For there must also be heresies among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
• 1 Cor 14:33 : 33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
• 1 Cor 14:36-37 : 36 What? Did the word of God originate from you? Or was it only to you that it came? 37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.
• 2 Cor 1:23-2:4 : 23 Moreover, I call God as a witness upon my soul, that to spare you I did not come yet to Corinth. 24 Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy; for by faith you stand. 1 But I decided this for myself, that I would not come to you again in sorrow. 2 For if I cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad, except the one whom I made sorrowful? 3 And I wrote this to you so that when I come, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to bring me joy; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. 4 For out of much trouble and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love I have more abundantly toward you.
• 2 Cor 10:2 : 2 But I plead with you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence by which I think to be bold against some who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
• 2 Cor 10:6 : 6 And being ready to punish all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
• 2 Cor 10:8-9 : 8 For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord has given us for edification and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: 9 That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.
• 2 Cor 12:21 : 21 And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall mourn for many who have sinned already and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.
• 2 Cor 13:2 : 2 I told you before, and foretell now, as if I were present the second time; and being absent now I write to those who have sinned in the past, and to all others, that if I come again, I will not spare:
• 2 Cor 13:9-9 : 9 For we are glad when we are weak, and you are strong; and this also we wish, even your perfection. 10 Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord has given me for edification, and not for destruction.