What Does Acts 23:20 Mean?
And he said, "The Jews have put it together to ask you that you would bring Paul down to the seated council tomorrow, as though they would inquire more closely about 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 he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council, as though they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly.THE KEY
The request for a fuller inquiry is the cover; the decisive verb says the Jews have already placed their intent together.
THE MEANING
You hear two things at once: a request framed as careful inquiry and an agreement already made around Paul. The text lets the stated purpose and the shared intent sit side by side; the danger lies in their mismatch.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A request for fuller information is not automatically evidence of honest curiosity; inquiry can be the cover for intent that is already settled.
THE ROOT
συνέθεντο
synethento
GROWS FROM
τίθημι
tithēmi
to put, place, or set
“put it together” in this verse is synethento. The Greek verb for “agreed” carries the sense of putting something together. Here, the shared arrangement sits beneath the language of inquiry: the invitation sounds open, while the intent has already been joined.
ALSO GROWS
synthēkē: agreement, compact
συνθήκη
This word for an agreement comes from the idea of putting things together, making the shared intent in the verse concrete.
thesis: a placing, position
θέσις
A position is something set in place; this branch echoes how the Jews’ intent is settled before Paul is asked to appear.
THE PATTERN
Concealed hostility can borrow the language of honest inquiry or fair dealing.
The words of his mouth are smoother than butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are opened swords.And they watched him, and sent out spies who played at being aligned, so that they might seize on his word, and hand him over to the rule and authority of the governor.He who hates makes himself a stranger with his lips, and lays deceit within him.THE THREAD
And the Jews also pressed in together, saying that these things hold so.The Greek word translated “assented” shares the τίθημι root with “agreed” here: both carry the sense of putting something together. The root links private coordination with public agreement, showing how settled intent can take the form of formal assent.
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