What Does Acts 13:7 Mean?
Who was with the one standing in the place of the highest in the land, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man, and this one called for Barnabas and Saul, and sought to hear the word of God.
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
Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.THE KEY
The verse’s hinge is that prudence becomes visible as an active search for God’s word.
THE MEANING
Discernment remains alive in you as a capacity to seek and hear God’s word. The word meets you as speech that can still be received, even where you hold responsibility or confidence. Being perceptive and being teachable belong together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that discernment means having no need to listen further: here, the prudent mind is still seeking to hear.
THE ROOT
συνετός
synetos
GROWS FROM
συνίημι
syniēmi
Bring together; understand.
The word συνετός (synetos, “prudent”) belongs to the family of συνίημι (syniēmi, “understand, bring together”), so prudence carries the sense of grasping how things fit. Here that discernment appears in an active posture of seeking to hear God’s word.
ALSO GROWS
syniēmi: Understand, perceive; bring together.
συνίημι
It names the mental work behind “prudent”: receiving pieces in relationship.
synesis: Understanding, comprehension.
σύνεσις
This noun from the same family links discernment with the capacity to understand.
ἐπεζήτησεν
epezētēsen
GROWS FROM
ζητέω
zēteō
Seek; look for.
“sought to hear” in this verse is epezētēsen. The verb ἐπιζητέω (epizēteō, “seek earnestly”) is rendered “desired,” but its action is active seeking. The verse presents hearing as the object he pursues, so openness here is deliberate.
ALSO GROWS
zēteō: Seek, look for.
ζητέω
This is the base verb beneath the seeking in the verse.
ekzēteō: Seek out; search diligently.
ἐκζητέω
This related verb keeps the family’s sense of active pursuit.
λόγος
logos
GROWS FROM
λέγω
legō
Say; speak.
λόγος (logos, “word, message”) belongs to the family of λέγω (legō, “say, speak”). The verse presents God’s word as communicated speech sought in order to be heard.
ALSO GROWS
logos: Word, message, speech.
λόγος
This is the word in the verse: the message the discerning man seeks to hear.
logion: Saying; oracle.
λόγιον
This related term for an utterance keeps the family’s speech sense concrete.
THE PATTERN
Discernment opens toward hearing, and hearing is where the word becomes trust.
So give your servant a heart that hears and responds, to judge your people, so that I may discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge this heavy people of yours?My sheep hear and respond to my voice, and I perceive them, and they follow me.So then trust comes out of hearing, and hearing comes through the word of God.THE THREAD
So then trust comes out of hearing, and hearing comes through the word of God.Acts uses ἀκοῦσαι (akousai, “to hear”), while Romans uses ἀκοῆς (akoēs, “hearing”), forms from the same Greek root ἀκούω (akouō, “hear”). Romans names what the search in Acts opens toward: trust takes shape through hearing God’s message.
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