What Does Acts 19:13 Mean?
Then some of the wandering Jews, oath-binders, set their hands to calling the nature of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil breaths, saying, We bind you by Jesus, whom Paul heralds.
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
Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.THE KEY
Jesus’ name is not a spell to borrow; it carries the nature and authority of the one invoked.
THE MEANING
These men try to bind the spirits by invoking Jesus as Paul proclaims him, as if the right phrase could carry authority on its own. The verse shows the difference between naming someone and acting in that person’s nature: Jesus’ name holds his identity, not a power detached from him.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that speaking a powerful name gives the speaker the authority that name represents.
THE ROOT
ὄνομα
onoma
GROWS FROM
ὀνομ-
onom-
Name; the identity, reputation, or authority represented by a name.
“nature” in this verse is onoma. Here, “name” reaches beyond a spoken label to the person and authority being invoked. The speakers say Jesus’ name, but the next verse exposes the gap between naming him and carrying his authority.
ALSO GROWS
onomazō: To name or call by name.
ὀνομάζω
The related verb makes the act of naming explicit; the verse turns on whether speaking the name means the speaker represents the one named.
eponomazō: To give a name or designate.
ἐπονομάζω
This branch shows naming as identifying someone, which helps distinguish Jesus’ identity from a formula the speakers try to use.
ὁρκίζω
horkizō
GROWS FROM
ὁρκ-
hork-
Oath; binding someone by an oath.
“bind you by” in this verse is horkizō. Their words are an attempt to compel: they put the spirits under oath by Jesus. That forceful wording makes the contrast sharper, the speakers can utter an oath, but the oath does not make Jesus’ authority theirs.
ALSO GROWS
horkos: An oath.
ὅρκος
This noun reveals the oath-bound force behind “We adjure you,” rather than a simple request.
horkōmosia: An oath-taking or sworn promise.
ὁρκωμοσία
This related word keeps the focus on binding speech, underscoring the speakers’ attempt to compel through words.
THE PATTERN
A name carries the identity and authority of the one named, so invoking it is bound up with how that person is represented.
Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the nature of the LORD of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have taunted.And whatever you ask in my nature, this I will do, so that the Father may be given weight in the Son.Let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the nature of Jesus the Anointed One of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before your faces, sound.THE THREAD
And the evil breath answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?The next verse answers the attempted adjuration: the spirit recognizes Jesus and Paul, then challenges the speakers themselves. Their words invoke a name, but the reply makes clear that saying it does not make them its representatives.
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