What Does Acts 19:20 Mean?
So with strength the word of God grew and was strong.
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
So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.THE KEY
God’s word grows by becoming a force that holds its ground.
THE MEANING
God’s word grows in reach and becomes effective where it enters. Its message carries force, taking hold in the lives it touches.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that God’s word is effective only when it meets no resistance; here, its strength grows and prevails.
THE ROOT
αὐξάνω
auxanō
GROWS FROM
αὐξ-
aux-
to grow, increase
“grew” in this verse is auxanō. This verb describes continuing increase. A related form can mean “grow together,” so the word’s growth can unfold as life around it grows.
ALSO GROWS
auxēsis: growth, increase
αὔξησις
It names growth as an unfolding process, illuminating the word’s expanding reach.
synauxanō: grow together
συναυξάνω
The shared seed connects the word’s increase with growth that unfolds alongside other life.
ἰσχύω
ischyō
GROWS FROM
ἰσχυ-
ischy-
to have strength or power
“was strong” in this verse is ischyō. Behind “prevailed” is the sense of having strength or power. The word’s growth carries active force, and a related noun names that strength directly.
ALSO GROWS
ischys: strength, might
ἰσχύς
This noun names the capacity expressed by the verb: the word grows into strength.
ischyros: strong, mighty
ἰσχυρός
This adjective shows the same family describing something that possesses great force.
κατὰ κράτος
kata kratos
GROWS FROM
κρατ-
krat-
strength, power, force
“with strength” in this verse is kata kratos. The phrase behind “mightily” names strength or power. A related verb can mean to hold fast, bringing a sense of force that takes hold and acts.
ALSO GROWS
krateō: hold fast, grasp
κρατέω
It links power with the ability to take hold, sharpening the picture of the word’s effect.
krataioō: strengthen, make strong
κραταιόω
This branch makes the family’s connection between strength and growing stronger explicit.
THE PATTERN
God’s word gains reach as its growth becomes strength and bears fruit.
But the word of God kept growing and multiplying.I planted, Apollos gave to drink, but God made it grow.So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what I delight in, and shall break through in the thing to which I sent it.THE THREAD
But the word of God kept growing and multiplying.The same Greek growth verb appears with the word of God as its subject. “Multiplied” reveals the increase compounding: the word’s reach grows beyond a single point of impact.
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