A familiar Bible saying, checked in context
Faith can move mountains
Paraphrase
Matthew 17:20 uses mountain-moving language, but this concise slogan is not its exact KJV wording.
By @The..Mustard..Seed · Updated
Read the relevant KJV passage
Matthew 17:20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Compare the evidence
Paul imagines faith strong enough to remove mountains, then says it is nothing without charity. This is the closest KJV wording to the familiar form.
1 Corinthians 13:2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
Matthew returns to mountain-moving language in another teaching about faith and prayer, helping readers compare the images.
Matthew 21:21Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
What the context adds
Matthew 17:20 links faith as a grain of mustard seed to moving a mountain. Mark 11:23 and Matthew 21:21 also use the mountain image, while 1 Corinthians 13:2 gives the phrase a striking counterweight: mountain-moving faith without charity amounts to nothing. The familiar sentence condenses several passages rather than reproducing one complete KJV line. Reading the images together keeps the focus from becoming a test of whether a suffering person has enough faith. The mustard-seed picture is small and vivid; Paul’s later comparison asks what kind of love accompanies conviction.
A question to carry forward
What changes when Paul places mountain-moving faith beside charity rather than achievement?
Keep reading
Read Matthew 17:14–21 and identify the question Jesus is answering.
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