What Does Acts 5:33 Mean?
And when they heard this, they were sawn through and wanted to lift them out of the way and put them to death.
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
When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.THE KEY
The Greek word for “cut” carries the image of being sawn through, and here that inner rupture turns into a plan to kill.
THE MEANING
A message can pierce deeply and still be resisted: here, the hearers are cut to the heart and then deliberate the speakers’ deaths. The verse holds the inward shock and the outward violence together; being strongly affected does not mean being changed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being deeply affected by what you hear means you have changed. Here the hearers are cut to the heart and still choose a plan to kill.
THE ROOT
διεπρίοντο
dieprionto
GROWS FROM
πρίω (príō), in διαπρίω (diapriō)
To saw; διαπρίω means to saw through and, in this use, to be cut inwardly or enraged.
“were sawn through” in this verse is dieprionto. The Greek preserves a forceful image: they are not merely touched but inwardly sawn through. In this verse, that impact surfaces as fury and a murderous response.
ALSO GROWS
príōn: A saw
πρίων
The related noun keeps the image physical: the verb suggests a dividing action, not a light touch.
diapriō: To saw through; in this use, to be cut to the heart or enraged
διαπρίω
This is the verb behind the KJV phrase, linking the hearers’ inward reaction with the hostility that follows.
ἐβουλεύοντο
ebouleuonto
GROWS FROM
βουλ-
boul-
To deliberate, form a plan, or counsel.
“wanted” in this verse is ebouleuonto. The Greek describes more than a conversation: the hearers are making a plan. The verse moves from an inward rupture to organized intent, and the intent is to kill.
ALSO GROWS
boulē: Counsel, plan, or purpose
βουλή
This related noun shows the deliberate direction contained in the counsel they take.
symboulion: Council or deliberative meeting
συμβούλιον
This related form points to counsel gathered into a group decision, as the hearers’ reaction becomes a collective plot.
THE PATTERN
When a message exposes what hearers resist, the impact can turn into an attempt to silence its speaker.
And it was, when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, "You shall surely die."Then they lifted stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the middle of them, and so passed by.When they heard these things, they were sawn through in their hearts, and ground their teeth at him.THE THREAD
When they heard these things, they were sawn through in their hearts, and ground their teeth at him.Acts 7:54 uses the same Greek verb, διαπρίω, for being “cut to the heart.” There the reaction becomes gnashing teeth; here, the same inward rupture becomes a plan to kill.
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