What Does Acts 20:33 Mean?
I have set my desire on no one's silver, gold, or clothing.
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
I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.THE KEY
The verb translated “coveted” is the same verb Jesus uses for a desire he eagerly embraces, so the verse distinguishes desire by what it reaches for.
THE MEANING
Another person’s silver, gold, or clothing does not become the object of a grasping desire. Desire itself remains; its direction is what this verse brings into view. Wealth can be present without being claimed by the heart.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that every strong desire is greed: the same Greek verb describes Jesus’ desire to share a meal with his friends.
THE ROOT
ἐπεθύμησα
epethymēsa
GROWS FROM
θυμ-
thym-
A stirring impulse or passion; in this word family, desire directed toward something.
“set my desire on” in this verse is epethymēsa. The Greek verb ἐπιθυμέω (epithymeō) means “desire” or “long for,” and its form here is rendered “coveted.” Luke uses the same verb when Jesus says he has desired to eat the Passover with his friends: intensity alone does not define the desire; what it reaches for matters.
ALSO GROWS
epithymeō: Desire, long for; in this verse, covet.
ἐπιθυμέω
This is the verb in Acts 20:33, showing that “covet” belongs to a wider word for directed desire.
epithymia: Desire, longing.
ἐπιθυμία
This related noun carries the same desire-family into other passages, where its object gives the longing its direction.
THE PATTERN
Desire becomes grasping or shared longing according to what it reaches for.
And the woman saw that the tree was good for eating, and that it was a craving for the eyes, and a tree to be desired for making one wise. And she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.And he said to them, I have longed with longing to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.Let your way of living be without the love of silver, and let what is at hand be enough, for he has said, I will never let go of you, nor leave you behind.THE THREAD
And he said to them, I have longed with longing to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.Luke uses the very same Greek verb, ἐπιθυμέω (epithymeō), “desire,” that appears as “coveted” in Acts 20:33. The shared word opens a distinction between desire that grasps at another’s possessions and desire for a table shared with friends.
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