What Does Acts 15:17 Mean?
So that the remnant of humankind might seek out the LORD, and all the nations, upon whom my nature is called, says the LORD, who makes all these things.
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
That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.THE KEY
The Lord’s nature is already called over the nations who seek him, so seeking begins inside belonging.
THE MEANING
Humanity’s remnant seeks the Lord, and the nations bear the Lord’s name over them. Seeking and belonging appear together, while the Lord is actively bringing this reality about.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The Lord’s name is only for one people, while the nations remain outside any claim of belonging.
THE ROOT
ἐπικέκληται
epikeklētai
GROWS FROM
καλέω (kaleō), with ἐπι- (epi-, upon)
To call, summon, or invite.
“called upon” in this verse is epikeklētai. The Greek is a perfect passive: the name has already been invoked over them, so the nations are described as bearing a relation to the Lord before their seeking is named. The call-family also gives us κλῆσις (klēsis, calling) and ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia, assembly), bringing calling and gathered belonging close together in the language.
ALSO GROWS
klēsis: Calling, invitation.
κλῆσις
The same call-family can name both the act of calling and a calling that draws someone into relation.
ekklēsia: Assembly, gathering.
ἐκκλησία
This branch shows how calling and gathering belong to the same word-family, echoing the verse’s inclusion of the nations.
ὄνομα
onoma
GROWS FROM
ὀνοματ-
onomat-
Name: the word or designation by which someone is known.
The verse says the Lord’s name is called over the nations, placing the Lord’s own nature over them. The name is more than a detached label; it expresses the character of the one whose name rests on them.
ALSO GROWS
onomazō: To name, designate, or mention.
ὀνομάζω
This verb makes the act of naming explicit, as the verse does with the Lord’s name over the nations.
epōnymos: Named after, or bearing someone’s name.
ἐπώνυμος
It carries the sense of a name borne in relation to another, illuminating the verse’s phrase ‘upon whom my name is called.’
ἐκζητήσωσιν
ekzētēsōsin
GROWS FROM
ζητέω
zēteō
To seek, search, or inquire.
“seek out” in this verse is ekzētēsōsin. The form ἐκζητέω (ekzēteō) intensifies the searching: it is seeking out, with active inquiry. The verse places this searching alongside the Lord’s name already called over the nations.
ALSO GROWS
zētēsis: Inquiry, question, or investigation.
ζήτησις
This branch shows that seeking includes an active search for understanding.
syzēteō: To seek or discuss together.
συζητέω
The same root can describe shared inquiry, expanding seeking beyond solitary pursuit.
THE PATTERN
The Lord’s name and blessing extend across peoples, gathering them into approach to him.
And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the ground will be blessed.Them also will I bring to my set-apart mountain, and gladden them in my house of prayer. Their ascending offerings and their sacrifices shall be received with favor upon my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.For there is no drawing apart between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich toward all who call upon him.THE THREAD
For everyone who calls upon the nature of the LORD will be delivered.Acts uses ἐπικαλέω (epikaleō) passively for the Lord’s name called over the nations; Romans uses the same verb actively for whoever calls upon the Lord’s name. Together, the verses show the same call moving both ways: the name rests on the nations, and anyone may call upon it.
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