What Does Acts 20:4 Mean?
And Sopater of Berea followed him as far as Asia, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
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 accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.THE KEY
The Greek says they were “following with” him: the journey is shared, and each companion is named.
THE MEANING
This verse shows a journey carried by a company of distinct people, each part of how the route moves forward. Shared presence is woven into the work; the road does not belong to one person alone.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It loosens the lie that meaningful work has to be carried by one central person alone.
THE ROOT
συνείπετο
syneipeto
GROWS FROM
ἕπομαι with σύν
To follow; σύν adds “with” or “together.”
“followed him” in this verse is syneipeto. Beneath “accompanied” is the image of following with someone. The wording holds the companions in shared movement, not merely at the same destination.
ALSO GROWS
hepómai: Follow, come after
ἕπομαι
The base verb presents companionship as keeping behind or alongside another on the way.
synepómenos: Following along with, accompanying
συνεπόμενος
This related form makes the “with” explicit: the movement is shared.
Τιμόθεος
Timótheos
GROWS FROM
τιμή + θεός
Honor or worth joined with God; “honoring God.”
Timotheus’s name joins honor with God. In a list of companions, the name keeps an individual nature visible within the shared journey.
ALSO GROWS
timḗ: Honor, value, worth
τιμή
This element gives the name its sense of honor or worth.
theós: God
θεός
This element names God as the one honored.
THE PATTERN
The work moves through a company, with people sharing the road and its burden.
You will surely wither, both you and this people with you, for this word is too heavy for you; you are not able to do it alone.Two are better than one, because they have good wages for their toil.After these things the Lord showed forth seventy others also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, where he himself was about to come.THE THREAD
Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, embrace you.Timotheus stands among the named companions here and appears again as a “workfellow” among other named people. The repeated name makes the shared work concrete: the company is made of distinct people joined in service.
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