What Does Acts 14:20 Mean?
But as the learners encircled him, he rose up and entered the city. And on the next day he went out with Barnabas to Derbe.
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
Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.THE KEY
The Greek verb behind “rose up” belongs to the same rise-and-stand family as “resurrection”: the surrounded body rises and goes back into the city.
THE MEANING
Disciples encircle Paul after he has been dragged out and left for dead; he rises, returns to the city, and leaves with Barnabas the next day. The violence remains real, but it does not decide his next movement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being left for dead means the story is already over.
THE ROOT
ἀναστάς
anastas
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι (histēmi), with ἀνά (ana-, up)
Stand or set in place; with “up,” rise to one’s feet.
“rose up” in this verse is anastas. The word carries the physical sense of standing up, and its word family also names resurrection. Here it describes Paul getting to his feet and moving back into the city; the echo adds depth without saying he had died.
ALSO GROWS
anistēmi: Rise, stand up
ἀνίστημι
This is the verb behind the verse’s “rose up” and the “arise” in Acts 9:40.
anastasis: Rising, resurrection
ἀνάστασις
This noun names the same upward movement in resurrection language.
εἰσῆλθεν
eisēlthen
GROWS FROM
ἔρχομαι
erchomai
Come or go; move from one place to another.
“went out” in this verse is eisēlthen. The English “came” and “departed” conceal the shared Greek movement verb, ἔρχομαι (erchomai), with opposite directions added: “into” and “out.” Paul first enters the city and then goes onward to Derbe, carrying the verse from reentry into continued movement.
ALSO GROWS
eiserchomai: Enter, go in
εἰσέρχομαι
Its “into” prefix marks Paul’s return into the city.
exerchomai: Go out, depart
ἐξέρχομαι
Its “out” prefix marks his movement onward from the city to Derbe.
κυκλωσάντων
kyklōsantōn
GROWS FROM
κύκλος
kyklos
Circle, ring; that which goes around.
The Greek verb means “encircled,” giving the gathering a clear physical shape: many bodies form a ring around one. Within that circle, the next movement is Paul rising.
ALSO GROWS
kykloō: Encircle, surround
κυκλόω
This is the verb used for the disciples gathering around Paul.
kyklō: Round about, in a circle
κύκλῳ
This related form makes the circular shape in “round about” visible.
THE PATTERN
Being cast down does not settle whether life and movement continue.
I do not die, but live, and recount the works of the LORD.Pursued, but not left behind; thrown down, but not perishing.THE THREAD
But Peter cast them all outside, and set his knees down, and prayed. And turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, stand up. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.Peter’s “arise” is ἀνίστημι (anistēmi, to rise or stand), the same verb family translated “rose up” here. Acts 9:40 uses it as Tabitha is raised; Acts 14:20 uses it as Paul gets to his feet and returns to the city.
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