Sunday (11/16), when preaching on James 3, I mentioned the Greek word prautés (v. 17), which is translated “gentleness” in NASB, which I think of as “meekness.” I then received a question on our text line about Galatians 5:22-23, in which meekness and gentleness are used separately, at least in the KJV.*
As I understand it, prautés is strength under control (see below). Think of a gentle elephant. He could rip me in half, but he controls his strength and behaves “gently” toward me. The other is chréstotés, often translated as “kindness” (but gentleness in KJV – also below) it is best thought of as “useful action.” So the short answer is that the fruits don’t overlap in Greek, but with almost 600 years of various English translations they certainly seem to! Another example of that is “patience and endurance.” The old word for ”patience” was “longsuffering” and the old word for “endurance” was “patience.”
prautés: Gentleness; meekness
Original Word: πραΰτης
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: prautés
Pronunciation: prah-oo’-tace
Phonetic Spelling: (prah-oo’-tace)
KJV: meekness
NASB: gentleness, consideration, humility, meekness
Word Origin: [from G4239 (πραΰς – Meek)]
1. mildness
2. (by implication) humility
chréstotés: Kindness, goodness, gentleness
Original Word: χρηστότης
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: chréstotés
Pronunciation: khray-stot’-ace
Phonetic Spelling: (khray-stot’-ace)
KJV: gentleness, good(-ness), kindness
NASB: kindness, good
Word Origin: [from G5543 (χρηστός – good)]
1. usefulness, i.e. morally, excellence (in character or demeanor)
This is just a good example of Godly traits that are also fruits of the Spirit. We should be working to cultivate all of these qualities in our daily lives. It’s one thing to have a meek (gentle) response when someone “comes at us” it’s another thing to act kindly (gently) by serving others where there is a need!
Hope that’s helpful,
Pastor Scott
*Most of our Bible Language Tools are tied to King James
Grace Notes 