What Does Acts 25:15 Mean?
About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought their case to light before me, asking for judgment against 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
About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.THE KEY
The word translated “judgment” already carries the force of condemnation, so the request arrives pointed toward a verdict against him.
THE MEANING
An accusation can be brought into view while already aimed at a particular outcome. You can see the difference between reporting a charge and proving it: the request is against him, but the verse does not say that the request makes its case true.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A demand for condemnation is not the same as a settled judgment. Being accused does not, by itself, make the accusation true.
THE ROOT
καταδίκην
katadikēn
GROWS FROM
δικ- (dik-), in κατά + δίκη (kata + dikē)
δίκη (dikē) means justice, judgment, or a judicial claim; the compound καταδίκη (katadikē) means condemnation.
“judgment against him” in this verse is katadikēn. The Greek καταδίκη (katadikē, condemnation) gives “judgment” an explicitly adverse direction. Its δίκη (dikē, justice or judgment) root also appears in words for doing justice and being aligned, but here the compound names a verdict sought against someone.
ALSO GROWS
dikē: Justice, judgment, or a judicial claim
δίκη
This is the base word within καταδίκη (katadikē, condemnation), showing how a claim for justice can become a demand for a verdict against someone.
ekdikeō: Do justice, avenge, or vindicate
ἐκδικέω
Luke 18:3 uses this same word family when a widow asks for justice against her adversary, linking the root to claims made from very different positions.
dikaiosynē: Alignment; justice
δικαιοσύνη
This related word carries the sense of alignment, widening the root’s reach beyond a court verdict to what is rightly ordered.
ἐνεφάνισαν
enephanisan
GROWS FROM
φαν-
phan-
To appear or show; in this word, to make known or report.
“brought their case to light” in this verse is enephanisan. The report brings a matter into view, but appearing before an authority is not the same as being proved. The verse keeps the report and the requested condemnation distinct.
ALSO GROWS
phainō: Appear or show
φαίνω
This root family gives the act of reporting the sense of making something visible to another.
phaneroō: Make visible or manifest
φανερόω
This related verb highlights the movement from what is not yet in view to what is disclosed, without itself deciding whether the disclosed claim is true.
THE PATTERN
A request for judgment does not settle a case; justice requires the account to be heard and tested.
And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear and respond between your brothers, and judge in alignment between each man and his brother, and the sojourner who is with him.The aligned one at the head of his own contention seems straight, but his neighbor comes and searches him out.Does our instruction judge a man before it hears him, and know what he does?THE THREAD
And there was a widow in that city, and she came to him, saying, Set me straight against my adversary.Acts uses καταδίκη (katadikē, condemnation), built on the same δίκη (dikē, justice or judgment) family that appears in ἐκδίκησον (ekdikēson, do justice or avenge) in Luke. The shared root links this demand for a verdict against someone with a widow’s demand for justice against her adversary; the root names the claim, while the context shows whose justice is being sought.
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