What Does Acts 18:8 Mean?
And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, leaned his weight upon the Lord with all his house, and many of the Corinthians, hearing, trusted and were immersed.
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
And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.THE KEY
The verse’s repeated “believed” makes trust the hinge between hearing and immersion.
THE MEANING
The verse shows hearing opening into trust across a household and among many people, with trust taking bodily form in immersion. To believe on the Lord is to lean your full weight on him, and the shared response makes that trust visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that trust is only inward agreement: here, trust is shared and takes a visible, embodied form.
THE ROOT
ἐπίστευσεν
episteusen
GROWS FROM
πειθ- / πιστ- (peith- / pist-)
Persuade, be persuaded, and come to trust.
“trusted” in this verse is episteusen. Trust here is more than accepting an idea; it is leaning your full weight on the Lord. The related words hold together persuasion, trust, and steadiness, connections that “believed” can leave hidden.
ALSO GROWS
peithō: persuade, prevail upon
πείθω
It shows trust as being persuaded into reliance, not merely agreeing with a claim.
pistis: trust, confidence
πίστις
This related noun names the trust expressed by the verb in the verse.
pistos: firm, steady
πιστός
The related adjective carries the quality of steadiness that lets trust bear weight.
ἐβαπτίσθησαν
ebaptisthēsan
GROWS FROM
βαπ-
bap-
Dip or immerse.
“were baptized” in this verse is ebaptisthēsan. Beneath the familiar word “baptized” is the concrete image of immersion. The verse pairs trust with this bodily movement, making the response visible rather than leaving it as inward assent.
ALSO GROWS
baptō: dip, immerse
βάπτω
This related verb makes the root’s concrete movement clear.
baptisma: immersion
βάπτισμα
The related noun keeps the act of immersion visible in the verse’s response.
THE PATTERN
Hearing opens into trust, and trust takes visible form in the body and community.
Bend your ear and come to me. Hear and respond, and your living soul shall live. I will cut a covenant of the ages with you, the steady faithful loves of David.So then trust comes out of hearing, and hearing comes through the word of God.For as many of you as have been immersed into the Anointed One have put on the Anointed One.THE THREAD
For as many of you as have been immersed into the Anointed One have put on the Anointed One.The verb translated “were baptized” in Acts belongs to the same immersion word-family used here. Galatians opens the image further: immersion into Christ is joined to the picture of putting on Christ.
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