141Rightly Dividing
orthotomeo — Greek
orthotomeo (G3718) — to cut straight; to handle rightly, along true lines. From orthos (straight) + temno (to cut).
A handling term — the accurate, straight handling of the record.
The record must be handled truly, and orthotomeo is that handling — cutting a straight line through the testimony, not warping or partitioning it. The word pictures a craftsman cutting straight: the workman that needeth not to be ashamed handles the truth accurately. It is not permission to divide the word and discard sections; it is the demand to keep the line straight. Right division is faithful accuracy, the opposite of slicing the law away.
2 Timothy 2:15 “Rightly dividing the word of truth.” The straight, accurate handling of the record.
2 Timothy 2:15 “A workman that needeth not to be ashamed.” The craftsman who cuts true.
Proverbs 3:6 “He shall direct thy paths.” The straight way — the same picture.
Psalm 119:128 “I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right.” The whole record handled as true.
Orthotomeo means ‘to cut straight’ — to handle the word accurately, along its true lines, like a mason cutting a stone true. ‘Rightly dividing the word of truth’ is not slicing Scripture into keep-and-discard piles; it is handling the whole record straight and accurate. Right division is accuracy, not amputation.
A stonemason ‘cuts straight’ — true to the line, or the whole wall is crooked. That is orthotomeo: handling the word of truth accurately, along its real lines. It does not mean carving Scripture into parts to throw away. It means keeping the cut straight — the opposite of slicing the law off.
- The workman (the handler) cuts the record straight, handling it accurately.
- The word of truth (the record) to be handled true, not warped or partitioned.
- Yahuah (the standard) whose testimony is kept straight by right handling.
Movement VI — It Is All Entered as Evidence. Word, deed, and blood — every step of the walk is deposed and filed. Nothing falls off the record.