What Does Acts 11:20 Mean?
And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Grecians, bringing good news of the Lord Jesus.
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
And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.THE KEY
The good news of Jesus crosses the boundary to reach people outside the familiar circle.
THE MEANING
The message reaches beyond circles that already recognize it and speaks into an unfamiliar audience through people who have come from elsewhere. Jesus’ name carries deliverance into the announcement itself.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The good news belongs only among people who already share the same community.
THE ROOT
εὐαγγελιζόμενοι
euangelizomenoi
GROWS FROM
ἀγγελ-
Message or announcement, carried by a messenger.
“bringing good news” in this verse is euangelizomenoi. The Greek word translated “preaching” means announcing good news, and its core is shared with the word for messenger. The verse shows that message crossing a boundary with the people who carry it.
ALSO GROWS
ángelos: Messenger.
ἄγγελος
The announcement in this verse is carried by people who bring it to a new audience.
angelía: Message or announcement.
ἀγγελία
This branch reveals the message within the act of announcing: good news is something carried and delivered.
יֵשׁוּעַ
Yēšūaʿ
GROWS FROM
ישׁע
Deliver; bring into safety and open space.
The Hebrew name behind Jesus grows from the root of deliverance. The announcement centers on a name that carries the movement from constriction into open space.
ALSO GROWS
yāšaʿ: To deliver or bring to safety.
יָשַׁע
The name in the verse carries the root action of deliverance.
yešūʿāh: Deliverance.
יְשׁוּעָה
This branch names the deliverance contained in the name being announced.
THE PATTERN
Good news travels outward through people, crossing boundaries to reach a wider audience.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the one who brings good news, who makes wholeness heard, who brings good news of good, who makes deliverance heard, who says to Zion, Your God governs.So those who were scattered passed through every place, bringing the good news of the word.And he said to them, Go into all the world and herald the good news to all creation.THE THREAD
The breath of the LORD is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the emptied. He has sent me to heal the shattered in heart, to herald release to the captives, and the return of sight for the blind, to send the crushed away into release.Luke’s phrase “to preach the gospel” uses the Greek verb family εὐαγγελίζω (euangelízō, announce good news), the same family behind “preaching” here. Luke joins that announcement to deliverance and release, revealing what the good news carries.
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