What Does Acts 5:25 Mean?
Then someone came and reported to them, saying, Look, the men you placed in the prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.
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
Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.THE KEY
The prison can hold their bodies for a night; it cannot keep them from standing and teaching in the temple.
THE MEANING
The verse holds confinement and public presence in one frame: the men put in prison are now standing in the temple, teaching the people. For you now, a place that has confined you is not the whole truth about where you can stand or whether your voice can be heard.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that once someone is shut away, their voice is finished.
THE ROOT
ἑστῶτες
hestōtes
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
to stand, set, or place
The Greek verb carries both standing and being set in a position. The men are not merely somewhere in the temple; they have taken their place there, teaching openly after being confined.
ALSO GROWS
stēnai: to stand; an infinitive form of the same verb
στῆναι
Ephesians 6:13 uses this form for standing after struggle, echoing the public stance of the men here.
stasis: a standing or position; in some contexts, an uprising or faction
στάσις
The word family can connect taking a position with public disturbance; here, their visible presence and teaching disrupt the attempt to keep them out of sight.
THE PATTERN
Confinement can give way to a person’s return into open presence.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they ran him out of the pit. He shaved himself, changed his garments, and came in to Pharaoh.He brings them out of darkness and the valley of deepest darkness, and tears their bonds apart.And behold, the messenger of the LORD stood over him, and a light shone in the prison, and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, "Stand up quickly." And his chains fell away from his hands.THE THREAD
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having worked through all things, to stand.Acts uses ἑστῶτες (hestōtes, “standing”), while Ephesians uses στῆναι (stēnai, “to stand”): forms of the same Greek verb, ἵστημι (histēmi, “stand”). In Acts, the standing is literal and public; Ephesians carries the same root into standing after struggle.
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