What Does Acts 3:2 Mean?
And a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, and each day they laid him at the gate of the temple called Beautiful, to ask for gifts from those entering the temple.
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 a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;THE KEY
At the gate called Beautiful, the man arrives carried each day to ask for mercy, the verse places visible need at beauty’s threshold.
THE MEANING
Need can become a daily pattern: this man is carried to the temple entrance and asks those entering for help. The verse holds his dependence in public view at a gate called Beautiful; nearness to a sacred place does not make his need disappear. The word rendered “alms” names mercy given in a concrete form.
THE ROOT
ἐλεημοσύνη
eleēmosynē
GROWS FROM
ἐλεέω
eleeō
To show mercy or compassion.
“gifts” in this verse is eleēmosynē. “Alms” can sound like money alone, but its Greek word belongs to the family of mercy. The man is asking for mercy made tangible, not merely naming a need.
ALSO GROWS
eleos: Mercy, compassion.
ἔλεος
This related word makes the mercy within “alms” audible: his request is for compassionate help.
eleēmōn: Merciful, compassionate.
ἐλεήμων
This related form describes the quality behind the act of giving: alms are mercy expressed through action.
ἐβαστάζετο
ebastazeto
GROWS FROM
βαστάζω
bastazō
To lift and carry, to bear a load.
“Carried” in this verse is ebastazeto. The man’s arrival depends on other people physically bearing him. The same verb can describe carrying another’s burdens, so the verse makes shared care visible in a literal act of carrying.
ALSO GROWS
bastazete: Bear; carry.
βαστάζετε
The same verb names bearing one another’s burdens, linking this man’s physical carrying to shared support.
bastazōn: Carrying; bearing.
βαστάζων
The same verb describes carrying the cross, showing how the word holds the concrete weight of what someone bears.
THE PATTERN
The vulnerable are brought within shared care, where mercy becomes concrete in open hands and an open place.
But you shall open your hand wide to him, and you shall surely lend him enough for what he lacks.To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Flourishing is the one who attends to the bowed low, and in the day of harm the LORD delivers him.But when you make a feast, call the emptied, the maimed, the lame, the blind.THE THREAD
Carry one another's weights, and so you fill up the instruction of the Anointed One.The verb translated “was carried” is βαστάζω (bastazō, carry or bear), the same verb behind “Bear ye” here. Acts makes that bearing physical: other people bring the man to the gate, so shared care is visible before anyone speaks.
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