What Does Acts 1:22 Mean?
Beginning from the immersion of John, until the same day that he was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of his rising.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.THE KEY
The resurrection witness carries the whole span, from John’s baptism to Jesus being taken up, so resurrection is testimony rooted in a lived story.
THE MEANING
The verse places the witness within a continuous span, from John’s baptism to the day Jesus is taken up. Resurrection testimony belongs to someone who has shared that span, not someone reporting one detached moment. For you now, the verse presents testimony as a lived account that holds the whole story together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A resurrection witness is not merely someone who saw one extraordinary moment.
THE ROOT
μάρτυρα
martyra
GROWS FROM
μαρτυρ-
martyr- stem
To bear witness or testify.
The word family connects the person called a witness with the act of giving testimony. Here, the witness carries the resurrection as testimony from within the whole span named in the verse.
ALSO GROWS
martyria: testimony, witness
μαρτυρία
The same word family names the testimony the witness bears.
martyreō: to testify, bear witness
μαρτυρέω
This verb makes explicit that witness is something expressed, not only a status.
ἀναστάσεως
anastaseōs
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι (histēmi), through στάσις (stasis)
To stand or be set upright.
“rising” in this verse is anastaseōs. The Greek word pictures standing up, giving resurrection a concrete image beneath the familiar English term. The witness’s testimony centers on one who stands up from death.
ALSO GROWS
anistēmi: to stand up, rise
ἀνίστημι
This related verb makes the rising movement within resurrection audible.
stasis: standing, position
στάσις
This noun carries the image of standing that underlies the word for resurrection.
THE PATTERN
Life emerging beyond death becomes a declaration of God’s work.
I do not die, but live, and recount the works of the LORD.Mary Magdalene came and brought word to the disciples that she had perceived the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.And with great power the sent ones rendered their witness to the standing up of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was upon them all.THE THREAD
And with great power the sent ones rendered their witness to the standing up of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was upon them all.Acts 1:22 names the person as a witness; Acts 4:33 names what the apostles give: witness of the resurrection. The shared μαρτυρ- (martyr-) word family moves from the witness’s identity to the community’s testimony.
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