What Does Acts 3:13 Mean?
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has given weight to his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and turned away from in the face of Pilate, when he had judged it right to release 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
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.THE KEY
The verse holds a handover and an intended release together, while God’s honor names Jesus beyond either human action.
THE MEANING
You meet Jesus here inside a public contradiction: people hand him over and deny him, even as Pilate’s judgment tends toward releasing him. God honors the one exposed to rejection, so the verdict of a crowd or ruler does not exhaust what is true of him. Betrayal, release, and honor occupy the same frame.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that public rejection settles a person’s worth, or that the authority holding someone has the final word about them.
THE ROOT
παρεδώκατε
paredōkate
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
δίδωμι (didōmi): give, grant, or hand over.
“handed over” in this verse is paredōkate. παρεδώκατε is a form of παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi, hand over): English “delivered up” retains the transfer but can hide its connection to the wider family of giving. The verse sharpens that contrast because Pilate is ready to release Jesus while others have handed him over.
ALSO GROWS
paradosis: a handing down; tradition
παράδοσις
This noun belongs to the παραδίδωμι family: something is handed from one person to another, carrying the same transfer motion through time.
apodidōmi: give back, render, or repay
ἀποδίδωμι
This compound keeps δίδωμι as its verb of giving and shows that handing over belongs to a wider family of transfers.
ἀπολύειν
apolyein
GROWS FROM
λύω
λύω (lyō): loosen, unbind, release.
“let him go” in this verse is apolyein. ἀπολύειν (apolyein, release) belongs to ἀπολύω (apolyō, release), built from ἀπό (apo, away) and λύω (lyō, loosen). Greek sets this loosening beside the act of handing Jesus over, revealing two contrary movements around him.
ALSO GROWS
lysis: a loosening; release
λύσις
This noun shares the λύω family and makes the underlying image of unbinding explicit.
apolysis: release; dismissal
ἀπόλυσις
This noun uses the same ἀπόλυω family, keeping the verse’s sense of release visible in another form.
ἐδόξασεν
edoxasen
GROWS FROM
δοξάζω
δοξάζω (doxazō): honor, glorify, give weight.
“has given weight to” in this verse is edoxasen. The verb connects God’s action to δόξα (doxa, glory and weight): Jesus receives honor while people deny him. This is weight conferred by God, not status granted by the surrounding crowd.
ALSO GROWS
doxa: glory; honor; weight
δόξα
This noun belongs to the same word family and names the honor God gives Jesus in the verse.
endoxos: honored; glorious
ἔνδοξος
This related adjective describes someone held in honor, echoing the weight God gives Jesus.
THE PATTERN
God’s honor raises the rejected one beyond the verdict that rejected him.
The stone the builders push away becomes the head of the corner.Behold, my servant shall see clearly. He shall rise, be lifted, and be raised very high.Therefore God also lifted him high, and favored him with a name above every name.THE THREAD
I will therefore discipline him and release him.Luke uses ἀπολύσω (apolysō, I will release), from ἀπολύω (apolyō, release), the same word family as ἀπολύειν in Acts 3:13. Acts places Pilate’s intended release beside the people’s handover, and the shared root makes that conflict audible in both verses.
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