What Does Acts 19:14 Mean?
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, who did so.
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 there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.THE KEY
The verse names their priestly lineage, then lets the ongoing verb, not the title, show what these seven are actually doing.
THE MEANING
The verse places seven sons and their father’s priestly title beside the action they share. Lineage and status name where they stand; the closing verb shows what they are enacting now.
THE ROOT
ποιοῦντες
poiountes
GROWS FROM
ποιέω
poieō
To do, make, or bring about.
“did so” in this verse is poiountes. The Greek phrase is literally “doing this,” with a present participle that portrays the action as underway. After naming the sons and their father’s title, the sentence leaves their action in view.
ALSO GROWS
poiētēs: Doer, maker
ποιητής
This is the same word family used for a person who acts on what they hear, as in James 1:22.
poiēma: Something made, workmanship
ποίημα
The related word for something brought about shows how this root connects action with its visible result.
THE PATTERN
A person’s identity becomes visible through what they do, alongside the name or status they carry.
Even a child is known by his deeds, whether his work is clean, and whether it runs straight.You will know them by their fruits. Do people gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.THE THREAD
But be makers of the word, and not hearers only, miscounting yourselves.Acts 19:14’s ποιοῦντες (poiountes, “doing”) and James’s ποιηταί (poiētai, “doers”) share the root ποιέω (poieō, “do, make”). Acts names the action underway; James uses the same word family for a person who puts the word into action.
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