What Does Acts 21:8 Mean?
And on the next day we who were around Paul went out, and came to Caesarea. And we entered the house of Philip, the bearer of good news, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.
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 the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Cæsarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.THE KEY
The good news moves through the home that receives its travelers, as well as through the messenger who carries it.
THE MEANING
The good-news messenger is also a host, and his home gives the arriving company a place to remain. The verse holds proclamation and presence together: the message moves through a person whose household receives others.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that gospel work happens only in public speech gives way here: receiving people at home belongs to the same work.
THE ROOT
ἐμείναμεν
emeínamen
GROWS FROM
μένω
menō
remain, stay
“stayed” in this verse is emeínamen. The English “abode” can sound like a lodging detail, but the Greek names remaining, not simply arriving. The related noun μονή is a dwelling, linking the stay with the place that holds it: the travelers’ movement becomes shared dwelling with Philip.
ALSO GROWS
monē: a dwelling or place to stay
μονή
The company’s stay with Philip makes the house more than a stop on the road; it is where they remain together.
epimenō: continue or remain
ἐπιμένω
This branch carries the root’s sense of continued presence, illuminating the company’s choice to stay with Philip.
εὐαγγελιστής
euangelistēs
GROWS FROM
ἀγγελ-
aggel-
announce, report; carry a message
“bearer of good news” in this verse is euangelistēs. The title joins εὖ (eu, “good”) to the message and messenger family, naming one who announces good news. English keeps “evangelist” as an office title, while the Greek still lets us hear “messenger” inside it; here that messenger’s work includes receiving travelers into his home.
ALSO GROWS
angelos: messenger, one who carries a message
ἄγγελος
This shared word family makes the messenger within “evangelist” audible.
euangelion: good news, glad message
εὐαγγέλιον
The messenger’s name is tied to the good news he carries, now embodied in the hospitality of his household.
THE PATTERN
The word’s movement takes shape through homes that receive its messengers.
Let us make a little upper room on the wall, I pray you, and let us set there for him a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a lampstand. And it shall be, when he comes to us, that he shall turn aside there.And when she was immersed, and her household, she urged us, saying, If you have judged me steady in the Lord, come into my house and stay there. And she pressed us.And he said to them, Wherever you enter a house, remain there until you go out from that place.THE THREAD
And when she was immersed, and her household, she urged us, saying, If you have judged me steady in the Lord, come into my house and stay there. And she pressed us.“Abide” here and “abode” in Acts 21:8 share the Greek verb μένω (menō, “remain”). Lydia’s invitation and Philip’s welcome both turn a household into a place where traveling messengers stay.
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