Meet: KJV Bible Word Study Series

A nib of a pen gliding on paper.

A key that fits perfectly into its lock.

Lenses that bring what is blurred into focus.

Spiritual truth delivering hope.

The one is meant for the other, you see. It is needful. It is necessary.

It is meet.

 

 

Welcome to my KJV Bible Word Study Series!

I love the King James Version Bible. I believe it is the most accurate and beautiful translation we can read. Nevertheless, it is important for us to know that none of the translations we have today (including the KJV) is perfect. Only the original Hebrew and Greek texts from which they came are divinely inspired.

The KJV, its lyrical beauty aside, uses some antiquated words, and words that have changed their meanings over time, that might send us scrambling for the nearest dictionary or concordance.

In this series, I take words that we may be unfamiliar with outside their biblical setting or that may be confusing to our modern-day English sensibilities, and expound upon their original meaning within the context of the verse.

By using Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, it is my hope to bring clarity to, and broaden our understanding of, many beloved and obscure KJV Bible passages.

 

Meet

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Meet—H5828: aid, help; taken from H5826: To surround, to protect or aid; help, succour

H3559: (literally) establish, fix, prepare, (figuratively) render sure, prosperous, proper; certain, set, ready, right, establish

H749: reaching to a given point, to suit; corresponding to H748: to be long, draw out, lengthen, defer; (from Webster’s New World Dictionary: yield with courtesy to, to give into the wish or judgment of another)

H3476: the right, equity, right, upright, uprightness; taken from H3474 (See below)

H3477: straight, convenient, equity, just, pleased well, right, righteous, upright; taken from H3474 (See below)

H3474: to be straight or even, to be right, pleasant, prosperous, direct, fit, seem good, please well, esteem right, make straight

H6743: to push forward, be good, be profitable, prosper, come mightily

H6213: to do or make, accomplish, appoint, apt, bring forth, bring to pass, fulfill, furnish, be occupied, perform, serve, use 

G514: deserving, comparable or suitable, due reward, worthy, unworthy

G2570: beautiful, good, valuable or virtuous (for appearance or use), better, fair, good, goodly, honest, well, worthy

G1163: it is (was) necessary (as binding), behoved, must (needs), need, be needful, ought, should; taken from G1210: to bind, be in bonds, knit, tie, wind

G2425: to arrive, competent, ample, fit (in character), able, enough, good, treat, large, sufficient, worthy

G1342: equitable, innocent, holy, just, right, righteous; taken from G1349: right, justice, judgment

G2427: to enable, qualify, make able; taken from G2425 (See above)

G2173: easily used, useful, profitable; taken from G2095: good, well (done)and G5543: employed, useful, better, good, gracious, kind

G2111: to place, purpose, put forth, well placed, appropriate, fit; taken from G2095 (See above)

 

[Words in bold or italics added for emphasis in Bible verses throughout this study.]

 

 

Meet

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The word meet used for this KJV study does not mean to be present at the arrival of something or to come into contact with someone. It refers not to a thing that is done, but to a thing that IS.

When you meet a friend for coffee at the corner diner, you are engaging in an action. But the act itself to meet (action verb) fulfills a purpose and describes a condition that is meet (an adjective that modifies a noun).

In other words: It is meet (adj. suitable, right, fitting, good, and praiseworthy) that we meet (v. come together from all points on the globe) to study God’s word and the translation of the King James Version as sisters in Christ.

(I bet you weren’t expecting a grammar lesson, now were you, my friends?)

 

There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more that is meet, but tendeth to poverty. (Proverbs 11:24)

 

There is one who gives and gives without fear of loss and continues to have more to give because of it, and then there is one who holds back more than is meet (H3476) or more than is right, equitable, and necessary to do so and suffers greater loss because of it.

 

We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly. (2 Thessalonians 1:3)

 

God is deserving of our thanks at all times, but it is especially meet (G514) or deserving, suitable, comparable when we see life-giving spiritual growth in our fellow brethren and family members.

 

It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. (Luke 15:32)

 

There is no greater joy for us than a loved one choosing to walk in truth. We may be knit together by blood, but it is the bond of the Spirit that makes us kin.

 

Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. (2 Peter 1:13)

 

It was right judgment (meet G1342) for Peter, as long as he lived, to keep the works of faith in the forefront of the believers’ minds.

It is right judgment for us to do the same. When we spur each other on to add virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love to our faith (2 Peter 1:5–7), we ensure we will never be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But Paul, in Acts 26:20, speaking to the Jews said, “repent and turn to God, and do works meet (suitable or worthy) for repentance”—and they nearly killed him.

John the Baptist warned the Sadducees and Pharisees (who thought themselves worthy of God because of their heritage and place in society) saying:

 

Bring therefore fruits meet for repentance:

. . . every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (Matthew 3:8, 10)

 

When we humbly offer fruits worthy of repentance, our Father makes us worthy to be partakers of His coming kingdom. It is through faith in His dear Son and obedience to His Word that makes this awesome truth possible.

 

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. (Colossians 1:12–13)

 

We have been delivered from the power of darkness, praise God, but we still suffer on this earth as His children. Our trials of lack and loss serve a glorious purpose hard to comprehend while living through them. But they are meet (useful, prepared, well placed, and necessary) for our spiritual growth.

 

Every time you allow patience to reign over your spirit of complaint, every time you shout NO to the Adversary’s whispers to give in, every time you choose to love when anger or laziness is your first response, you become meet for the Master’s use and prepared for every good work (2 Timothy 2:21).

Like rain falling long on the desert floor, the knowledge of Jesus Christ soaks into our parched and weary hearts and provides us with everything we need to blossom in life and godliness.

 

 

 

I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. (Jeremiah 27:5)

 

 

God has made what He has and for whom He has according to His good pleasure.

 

 

It seemed meet (H3474), or good, well-pleasing, and right to God to bless us with His creation.

The most remarkable of His creations was the female human being. She was unique in that God could have created her right along with Adam, as He did the animals. But He didn’t.

 

And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. (Genesis 2:20)

 

God chose to let Adam feel something amiss in his new life.

He chose to allow Adam a time of loneliness to realize his great need for a companion.

 

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. (Genesis 2:18)

 

The first time in all His creation, God pronounced something Not Good!

 

Man was not meant to be alone. Woman would be the embodiment of the perfect mate: lover, partner, supporter, and friend. She would aid him in all he set his hands to do.

She would be, according to God Himself, “an help meet,” a help suitable for the man He just breathed life into. She would be the epitome of what he needed. One who would surround him with love and laughter. One who would be worthy of his trust and affection. God made her specially to protect his heart and give him a purpose for living. She was the perfect gift.

 

Woman is meant for Man, you see.

She is needful. She is necessary.

She is meet.

 

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I love a good word study, don’t you? I hope you’ve gleaned, along with me, some additional insight into the rich words used in the KJV Bible.

If you would like to read more posts in this series, please check out my KJV Bible Studies page.

To stay up to date on all Desert Rain content, consider signing up for my Abide & Blossom newsletter for the weary Christian woman. Thank you!

 

Abiding in the Vine,

~ Gleniece

 

The post “Meet: KJV Bible Word Study Series” was first published on Desert Rain.

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