Admonish: KJV Bible Word Study Series

One of the many duties we have as Christians is to admonish our fellow brethren out of love and a desire for each other’s good. But in order to do this well, we need to understand exactly what is being asked of us.

 

 

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, employs several 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.

 

 

Admonish; Admonished; Admonishing; Admonition

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Admonish—G3560: to put in mind, to caution or reprove gently, to warn

Admonished—H2094: to gleam, to enlighten by caution, teach, shine, give warning

 H5749: to protest, testify, bear witness, charge

 G3867:  to recommend or advise (a different course)

 G5537:  to utter an oracle, warned of God, reveal, speak, be called

Admonishing—G3560: to put in mind, to caution or reprove gently, to warn

Admonition—G3559: calling attention to, mild rebuke or warning

 

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

 

 

Admonish

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Looking up this word in Strong’s Concordance shows us that admonish, and its derivatives admonished, admonishing, and admonition, is used twelve times in the King James Version Bible.
Paul speaks these words of praise to the brethren in Romans:

 

And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. (Romans 15:14)

 

Here, as well as in 1 Thessalonians 5:12 and 2 Thessalonians 3:15, the meaning of admonish (G3560, verb) means “to put in mind, to caution or reprove gently, to warn.”

But before we can caution or reprove (convict or convince) someone, we need to be able to judge (or discern) between right and wrong. We need to be in God’s Word. We need, as Paul said here in Romans, to be filled with the goodness and knowledge of Christ in order to admonish rightly.

Nobody is perfect.

Nobody likes to be told that they are at fault or straying.

But as Christians, it is our duty to point out biblical errors or actions we see that might cause spiritual harm to our fellow brethren with love.

If we witness behavior or hear beliefs that go against biblical teaching and turn our heads away (i.e., tolerate), we are not showing love. We are perpetuating sin, and allowing our fear of man to be more powerful than our fear of God.

 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)

 

Better is a poor and wise child, than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished. (Ecclesiastes 4:13)

 

Admonished (H2094) in the verse above, and in Ecclesiastes 12:12, means “to gleam, to shine [as a spotlight, perhaps?], to enlighten by caution, to give warning.”

Ecclesiastes 4:13 makes known that there are people who were willing to listen to instruction at one time, but they allowed their authority, credentials, wealth, age, or experience to puff them up, and they refused to hear instruction any longer. Because of these physical and material advances, they see themselves above godly enlightenment.

How sad.

There is never a point in this physical life where we will have all knowledge, where we can claim to have “arrived.”

 

The Lord hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day. (Jeremiah 42:19)

 

Here, when God admonished (H5749), He “testified against them, bore witness, protested, charged.”

Yet, did Judah heed the warning?

 

In Acts 27:9, to be admonished (G3867) simply means “to recommend or advise (a different course).”

 

Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, . . .  Paul admonished them, and said unto them, Sirs, I perceive this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. (Acts 27:9–10)

 

God “uttered an oracle, warned, revealed, spoke, or called” when He admonished (G5537) Moses as spoken in Hebrews concerning the making of the tabernacle.

 

Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. (Hebrews 8:5)

 

Lastly, we have the word admonition (G3559). This Greek noun, nouthesia, used in Ephesians 6:4, Titus 3:10, and here in 1 Corinthians 10:11, means “calling attention to, a mild rebuke or warning.”

 

Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (1 Corinthians 10:11)

 

We are called to attention in 1 Corinthians 10 to the many ways the Israelites disobeyed God and chose their own path resulting in their destruction. This warning applies to the body of Christ now more than ever.

Feel-good, anything-goes, pat-yourself-on-the-back theology is deceiving far too many believers. The Word of God is not subject to our emotions or the current generation’s definition of morality.

 

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables. (2 Timothy 4:3–4)

 

These warnings were placed in the Bible for a reason. We must be aware of our own spiritual condition and the temptations that surround us all, and out of love and deep concern for our brothers and sisters in Christ, admonish them well.

As a wife, I’ve been admonished by my dear husband often. It doesn’t feel good to have your spiritual doubts, missteps, and wanderings exposed, but a good husband will understand his God-given responsibility and speak up, and I have grown because of it. His gentle reminder for me (in the past, not so gentle; he has grown too) to stand strong and not give in to the discontent and faithless mindset that creeps into my being, is what admonition is all about.

 

Caring enough to correct.

 

Likewise, as a mother, it is my God-given responsibility to guide and correct my children. I do this out of care for their physical lives, but more importantly, their spiritual ones.

I am grateful for the balance of love and correction that God metes out to us. Ephesians 6:4 is a great example of how we, in turn, should raise up our children:

 

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

 

 

 

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To admonish one another is a Christ-like act of love.

We must be willing to admonish our fellow brethren humbly, but most importantly—humbly receive it.

 

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. (Ephesians 5:21)

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. (1 Peter 5:5)

 

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 additional posts in this series, please check out my KJV Bible Studies page.

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Abiding in the Vine,

~ Gleniece

 

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

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