What Does Acts 28:30 Mean?
And he stayed two whole years in his own hired house, and received all who came in to 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 Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,THE KEY
The house’s significance comes from its open threshold, not from who owns it.
THE MEANING
Your space becomes a meeting place through welcome; its value lies in whom it receives, not in whether it belongs to you. Even a rented, temporary dwelling can hold a steady welcome.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A meaningful place must be owned, permanent, or public.
THE ROOT
ἀπεδέχετο
apedecheto
GROWS FROM
δέχομαι
dechomai
to receive, take in, welcome
“received” in this verse is apedecheto. The verb carries the sense of welcoming people in, describing Paul’s house by its open reception as well as its tenancy. Its shared dechomai stem appears in words for receiving others and welcoming what is awaited, linking an open door with inward readiness.
ALSO GROWS
apodechomai: to welcome, accept, or receive
ἀποδέχομαι
This compound shares the receiving stem in the verse, making the welcome an active reception.
prosdechomai: to receive, welcome, or await
προσδέχομαι
This related form connects receiving with readiness for an arrival.
THE PATTERN
A place becomes a point of encounter when it receives whoever arrives.
And he lifted his eyes and saw, and look, three men stood beside him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent opening, and bowed down to the earth.Whoever takes you in takes me in, and whoever takes me in takes in the one who sent me.Do not let slip the opening of your home to strangers, for by it some have sheltered messengers without knowing it.THE THREAD
Whoever takes you in takes me in, and whoever takes me in takes in the one who sent me.Matthew uses the same dechomai receiving stem that appears in Acts. Here, receiving those who arrive at Paul’s house also becomes a way of receiving what they carry.
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