What Does Acts 19:31 Mean?
And certain of the first ones of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him, urging him not to set himself into the theater.
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 certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.THE KEY
The danger is framed as Paul giving himself into a public scene, while friendship answers by urging him to hold back.
THE MEANING
When someone stands near danger, care can arrive as a direct appeal from friends. The Greek phrase leaves the person’s agency visible: the self is what can be given into the scene.
THE ROOT
δοῦναι ἑαυτόν
dounai heauton
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
to give, grant, or hand over
“set himself into the theater” in this verse is dounai heauton. The KJV’s “adventure himself” conveys the risk; the Greek also pictures the self as what is given into the theater. The danger is not only the scene around him but his own exposure within it.
ALSO GROWS
paradidōmi: hand over, deliver up
παραδίδωμι
This compound carries the same giving into the sense of handing someone or something over.
dosis: a giving, a gift
δόσις
This related word shows the same root’s movement from the act of giving to what is given.
παρεκάλουν
parekaloun
GROWS FROM
παρακαλέω
parakaleō
to urge or appeal; in related uses, to comfort or console
“urging him” in this verse is parekaloun. This is an appeal from friends, not a detached report: they urge him away from the theater. The same word family also carries comfort, showing how care can take the form of a warning.
ALSO GROWS
paraklēsis: appeal, encouragement, consolation
παράκλησις
Its range links an urgent appeal like this one with words of encouragement and consolation.
paraklētos: advocate, helper, comforter
παράκλητος
This related word carries the family’s association with support and aid.
φίλοι
philoi
GROWS FROM
φιλ-
phil-
affectionate love, fondness, friendship
The verse identifies the people warning him as friends. Their appeal comes through personal affection, expressed as concern for his safety.
ALSO GROWS
phileō: to love, hold dear
φιλέω
This verb names the affection carried in the word for friend.
philia: friendship
φιλία
This related noun makes explicit the bond behind their warning.
THE PATTERN
Care can take the form of a clear appeal that warns someone away from danger.
Steady are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.His disciples said to him, Teacher, the Jews just now sought to stone you, and are you going there again?And when we heard these things, both we and those of that place were urging him not to go up to Jerusalem.THE THREAD
And while the day was about to come, Paul urged them all to take food, saying, Today is the fourteenth day that you have watched and gone without food, taking nothing.The Greek verb translated “besought” here is the same verb rendered “desiring” in Acts 19:31. There Paul urges endangered companions toward food; here his friends urge him away from the theater, and the shared word connects both appeals as care amid danger.
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