What Does Acts 10:29 Mean?
Therefore I came to you without speaking against it, as soon as I was sent for; so I ask, for what word have you sent for me?
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
Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?THE KEY
The same Greek verb for “sent for” appears twice, tracing the summons from their sending to Peter’s arrival before its purpose is spoken.
THE MEANING
The verse presents a meeting where movement comes before full explanation: Peter arrives without resistance, then asks plainly what purpose lies behind the summons. For you, it holds readiness and inquiry together; a call can be received while its reason is still being spoken.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that being receptive means staying silent: Peter comes without objection and still asks why they sent for him.
THE ROOT
μεταπεμφθείς
metapemphtheis
GROWS FROM
πέμπω
pempō
To send or dispatch; μεταπέμπω (metapempō) means to send for or summon.
“sent for” in this verse is metapemphtheis. The same verb appears first for Peter being summoned and again for their sending for him, giving the sentence a single Greek hinge. The call moves through people: Peter arrives, then asks them to make its purpose clear.
ALSO GROWS
pempō: To send or dispatch someone.
πέμπω
This basic form shows the action beneath the summons: someone is sent toward another.
metapempō: To send for someone or call them to come.
μεταπέμπω
This is the verb repeated in the verse, binding the summons to Peter’s arrival.
propempō: To send someone onward or accompany them on their way.
προπέμπω
This related branch extends the same sending into movement that supports someone’s journey.
λόγῳ
logō
GROWS FROM
λέγω (legō) / λόγος (logos)
To say or speak; λόγος (logos) can mean a word, account, matter, or reason.
The KJV’s “intent” is expressed through λόγος (logos, word/account/reason), so the purpose is also something that can be put into words. Peter asks for both their aim and the account they can speak aloud.
ALSO GROWS
logos: A spoken word, account, matter, or reason.
λόγος
The verse’s question uses this word for the reason behind the summons, linking purpose with what can be said.
logizomai: To reckon or consider something.
λογίζομαι
This related word shows the family’s reach into weighing or accounting for a matter, echoing Peter’s request for an account.
THE PATTERN
A summons gathers people into a meeting where its purpose becomes speakable.
And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for your servant hears and responds.And he said, How can I, unless someone show me the way? And he urged Philip to come up and sit with him.At that very hour I sent to you; and you have done well in coming alongside. Now, then, we are all here before God, to hear all that has been commanded you by the Lord.THE THREAD
At that very hour I sent to you; and you have done well in coming alongside. Now, then, we are all here before God, to hear all that has been commanded you by the Lord.Cornelius uses the same verb μεταπέμπω (metapempō, send for/summon) to name his act of calling Peter. Peter’s question and Cornelius’s answer form one exchange: the summons has brought them together to hear what God has commanded.
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