What Does Acts 13:22 Mean?
And when he had moved him aside, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also bore witness, and said, I found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will.
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 when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.THE KEY
Here, a heart aligned with God becomes visible as divine desire carried into action.
THE MEANING
This verse presents the heart as the inner center whose direction takes shape in action. David’s accord with God’s heart appears in his carrying out God’s will. The same connection speaks to you now, where inner direction meets what you do.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that being after God’s heart is only an emotional closeness or private feeling; here, that inward alignment takes visible form in action.
THE ROOT
καρδία
kardía
GROWS FROM
καρδ-
Greek word family
The heart as the inner center of thought, desire, and intention.
The Greek phrase is “according to my heart”: the heart is the pattern or measure, not merely a seat of emotion. The verse joins God’s inner character with David’s enacted choices.
ALSO GROWS
kardiognōstēs: Knower of hearts.
καρδιογνώστης
Acts 15:8 uses this compound for God, showing the heart as an inward reality that can be known.
sklērokardia: Hardness of heart.
σκληροκαρδία
This compound names a heart’s condition; Acts 13:22 presents the heart as a pattern whose direction becomes visible in action.
θέλημα
thelēma
GROWS FROM
θελ-
Greek word family
What is willed, desired, or intended.
“will” in this verse is thelēma. The Greek has the plural “all my wills” or “all my desires,” making the heart’s direction concrete in what David carries through. Inner orientation and intended action appear together.
ALSO GROWS
thelō: To wish, will, or be willing.
θέλω
The verb shows the desire or willingness from which the noun for will is formed.
thelēma: Will, desire, or intention.
θέλημα
Here the plural points to the intentions David carries into action.
דָּוִד
Dāwîḏ
GROWS FROM
דּוֹד
d-w-d
Beloved; dear one.
David’s name carries the sense of belovedness. Beside “a man according to my heart,” the verse holds relationship and resemblance together: the beloved one is named alongside a life shaped by God’s will.
ALSO GROWS
dōd: Beloved one; also kinsman or uncle.
דּוֹד
This Hebrew word shares the name’s consonants and carries its sense of belovedness.
dōdîm: Loves or caresses.
דּוֹדִים
This plural form from the same root brings the name’s relational sense into view.
THE PATTERN
An inner alignment becomes visible when desire takes form in action.
But now your kingdom shall not stand. The LORD has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be leader over his people, because you have not guarded what the LORD commanded you.I delight to do what pleases you, O my God, and your instruction is within my inward parts.For it is God who works in you, both to will and to do, for the sake of his good pleasure.THE THREAD
You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.Matthew uses the same Greek word καρδία (kardia, “heart”) and says that what comes outward flows from its abundance. Acts names David’s heart as the pattern and the will he performs as its visible expression; Matthew makes that inner-to-outer movement explicit.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us