What Does Acts 18:20 Mean?
When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not nod.
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
When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;THE KEY
Their appeal asks for more presence, but “consented” carries the image of a nod: being wanted and agreeing to stay are separate acts.
THE MEANING
They ask him for more time with them, and he does not assent. Their desire is real; so is his refusal. The verse holds both at once, showing that being wanted does not mean someone has agreed to stay.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that another person’s desire for your presence is already your consent.
THE ROOT
ἐπένευσεν
epeneusen
GROWS FROM
νεύω
neuō
To nod or incline; a gesture of assent.
“did not nod” in this verse is epeneusen. Inside “consented” sits the image of a nod toward what is asked. The sentence sets their appeal beside a withheld assent: their wish for continued presence does not itself become agreement.
ALSO GROWS
epineuō: Nod assent; agree.
ἐπινεύω
This is the verb used here, carrying the sense of a nod toward the request.
kataneuō: Nod or beckon to someone.
κατανεύω
In Luke 5:7, this related verb describes a signal made to companions, showing how a nod can communicate a response without words.
neusis: A nod or inclination.
νεῦσις
This noun preserves the same movement of turning or inclining that gives assent its image.
μεῖναι
meinai
GROWS FROM
μέν-
men-
To remain or stay.
“tarry” in this verse is meinai. The verb is from μένω, “remain,” whose family also names a dwelling, μονή. Their request is for his continued presence; the refusal is specifically a refusal to remain longer.
ALSO GROWS
monē: Dwelling or place to remain.
μονή
The related word turns the act of remaining into a place of dwelling, revealing the weight of the presence they ask to extend.
emmenō: Remain in; continue.
ἐμμένω
This related verb carries staying into persistence, echoing the duration contained in their request for more time.
παρεκάλουν
parekaloun
GROWS FROM
καλέω (kaleō), within παρακαλέω (parakaleō)
To call or summon; παρακαλέω carries the sense of making an appeal or urging.
The verb translated “desired” describes a voiced appeal directed to him, not merely an inward wish. Their request is active: they urge him to remain, and he declines to assent.
ALSO GROWS
paraklēsis: Appeal, encouragement, or consolation.
παράκλησις
This related noun shows the range of a direct appeal, the kind of request made in the verse.
paraklētos: Advocate, helper, or comforter.
παράκλητος
This related word names one who stands in an advocating or helping role, extending the same word family into a person who responds to need.
THE PATTERN
A request for more time brings consent into view; the request itself does not decide whether someone remains.
And her brother and her mother said, Let the young woman settle with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. And he said to them, Do not hold me back, since the LORD has made my road break through; send me away that I may go to my master.But they pressed him, saying, Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day has already leaned. And he went in to stay with them.THE THREAD
But they pressed him, saying, Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day has already leaned. And he went in to stay with them.The Greek verb behind “Abide” in Luke and “tarry” here comes from μένω (menō), “remain.” Luke shows the invitation accepted; Acts shows the requested staying declined, making each response part of the meaning.
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