Tool Beta
Is It Actually in the Bible?
Phrases people quote as Scripture. The real verse, or the honest answer that there is not one.
desire the sincere milk of the word: sounds like the word of God is being described as honest or heartfelt
In 1611, "sincere" meant pure and unadulterated, not "honest" or "heartfelt."
1 Peter 2:2, in every translation this tool compares.
1 Peter 2:2 urges believers, "as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." Today "sincere" describes a person's genuine feelings or honesty. In 1611 it described a substance: unmixed, unadulterated, without any foreign additive: which is why modern translations render this verse "pure spiritual milk." Peter's image is infant formula with nothing false stirred into it, not a claim that Scripture is emotionally genuine.
One popular story claims "sincere" comes from Latin sine cera, "without wax": supposedly because honest merchants marked pottery that wasn't patched with wax to hide cracks. It's a great story, but it's a folk etymology: reputable references including the Oxford English Dictionary and etymonline reject it, tracing "sincere" instead to Latin sincerus, "whole, unmixed, genuine." The real meaning holds up even though the wax story doesn't.
