What Does Acts 13:27 Mean?
For those who settle in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not perceive him, nor the voices of the prophets, which are read aloud every sabbath, filled them up by judging him.
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
For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.THE KEY
In Yerushalayim (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, yerushalayim), whose name holds the two wholenesses, its residents fail to recognize him, and their verdict fills the prophetic words they cannot perceive.
THE MEANING
The place named for wholeness does not itself grant clear perception: its people do not recognize him or the prophetic words read each Sabbath. Yet in condemning him, they bring those words to their fullness. The words are read repeatedly while the one they reveal remains unseen.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Repeated exposure to scripture does not guarantee recognition of the one its words reveal.
THE ROOT
ἐπλήρωσαν
eplērōsan
GROWS FROM
πληρ-
plēr-
Fill, make full, bring to completion.
“filled them up” in this verse is eplērōsan. The prophetic words are not merely recalled; they reach their full expression in what the people do. Their condemnation becomes the means by which the words are filled out.
ALSO GROWS
plērēs: Full, complete.
πλήρης
This related word describes the state of being full, echoing how the prophetic words arrive at their full expression.
plērōma: Fullness, that which fills.
πλήρωμα
It makes the connection between fulfillment and fullness visible: the words become full in the events described.
ἀγνοήσαντες
agnoēsantes
GROWS FROM
νοέω
noeō
Perceive, understand; the added prefix expresses absence or lack.
“knew him not” in this verse is agnoēsantes. The failure is a failure of perception and understanding, extending both to the person and to the prophetic voices. Reading the words aloud does not mean their meaning has been recognized.
ALSO GROWS
nous: Mind, understanding.
νοῦς
This related word points to the faculty of perception that is missing when the people fail to recognize him.
agnoia: Ignorance, lack of understanding.
ἄγνοια
This related word names the state behind their failure to perceive the person and the words read about him.
κρίναντες
krinantes
GROWS FROM
κριν-
krin-
Separate, decide, judge.
“judging” in this verse is krinantes. Their condemnation is an act of judgment, and that decision becomes part of how the prophetic words reach fullness. The verse holds their verdict and their unknowing fulfillment together.
ALSO GROWS
krisis: Judgment, decision.
κρίσις
It names the judgment made against him, the act through which the prophetic words are enacted.
kritēs: Judge.
κριτής
It names the one who decides a case, highlighting the judgment at the center of the verse.
THE PATTERN
Words may be present, and even enacted, while the one they reveal remains unrecognized.
And he said, Go, and say to this people, Hear and hear again, but do not discern; see and see again, but do not perceive.He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, and the world did not perceive him.Then he said to them, O unthinking ones, and slow in heart to trust all that the prophets have spoken!THE THREAD
And he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be filled which have been written about me in the instruction of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms.Luke uses the same verb for “fulfilled” when Jesus says the Law, Prophets, and Psalms reach their full expression concerning him. Acts shows that this fullness arrives even through the condemnation of those who do not recognize what they are reading.
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