What Does Acts 5:12 Mean?
And through the hands of the sent ones many signs and wonders came to be among the people. And they were all with one passion in Solomon's colonnade.
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 by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.THE KEY
The Greek phrase “with one accord” reveals a community moving with one passion, gathered alongside signs visible among the people.
THE MEANING
Many signs and wonders appear among the people through the apostles’ hands, while the whole company gathers with one passion in Solomon’s porch. Public signs and shared inner direction occupy the same scene.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse unsettles the belief that signs of divine action are confined to solitary experience; it places them among the people beside a gathered company.
THE ROOT
ὁμοθυμαδόν
homothymadon
GROWS FROM
ὁμός + θυμός
Same + passion, ardor, or impulse; a shared inner drive.
“with one passion” in this verse is homothymadon. The word carries more than agreement: it pictures people gathered in the same passion. The English phrase “one accord” can sound like mere consensus, while the Greek points to a shared impulse animating the group.
ALSO GROWS
homothymadon: With one passion; with one accord.
ὁμοθυμαδόν
This is the word used for the gathered company in the verse, describing their shared inner direction.
epithymia: Desire or longing.
ἐπιθυμία
It shares the θυμ- element associated with inward impulse, bringing out the depth of the common drive expressed by “with one accord.”
σημεῖα
sēmeia
GROWS FROM
σημ-
sēm-
A mark, signal, or indicator.
The Greek word carries the sense of a mark that points beyond itself, so a sign is both a marvel and an indication. Here the signs appear among the people, making their shared public setting part of the scene.
ALSO GROWS
sēmeion: A sign or mark.
σημεῖον
This is the singular form of the word translated “signs” in the verse.
sēmainō: To signify or indicate.
σημαίνω
This related word makes clear how a sign functions: it marks something for recognition.
THE PATTERN
When people gather in a shared purpose, their unity becomes visible in common life and praise.
A Song of degrees of David. Look, how good and how sweet it is for brothers to settle also together!And they, holding fast day by day with one passion in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, took their food with gladness and singleness of heart.So that with one passion and one mouth you may give weight to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One.THE THREAD
And they, holding fast day by day with one passion in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, took their food with gladness and singleness of heart.Acts 2:46 uses the same word, ὁμοθυμαδόν (homothymadon, “with one passion”), for the community’s daily gathering and shared meals. Its repetition shows that this shared passion marks a rhythm of life, while Acts 5:12 places it beside signs seen among the people.
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