What Does Acts 5:40 Mean?
And they were persuaded by him, and when they had called the sent ones to them and flayed them, they charged them not to speak in the nature of Jesus, and released them.
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 to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.THE KEY
The apostles are physically released while their speech is still targeted: the verb for letting them go means to loosen, but the order tries to constrain their voice.
THE MEANING
You can be released from visible confinement while an authority still tries to govern what you say about Jesus. The verse holds freedom of movement and restriction of speech together; being let go does not mean the pressure has ended.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that release means the contest is over: a body can be let go while speech remains under command.
THE ROOT
ἀπέλυσαν
apelysan
GROWS FROM
λύω
to loosen, unbind, or release
“released them” in this verse is apelysan. The Greek verb for “let them go,” ἀπέλυσαν (apelysan), is built from ἀπολύω (apolyō), from ἀπό + λύω (lyō, “to loosen”). Its release of the apostles sits beside an order that still constrains their speech: their bodies are let go while their voices remain under pressure.
ALSO GROWS
lysis: a loosening or release
λύσις
It shares the λύω root and makes the physical release in this verse visible in the word’s own family.
apolysis: a release or dismissal
ἀπόλυσις
This noun shares the ἀπολύω family and echoes the act of sending the apostles away.
ὀνόματι
onomati
GROWS FROM
ὄνομα
name or designation, carrying the identity and authority represented by the name
The prohibition reaches speech “in the name” of Jesus. A name carries more than a repeated label: it points to the nature and authority of the one named, so the order targets speech that bears his identity.
ALSO GROWS
onomazō: to name or call by name
ὀνομάζω
It shares the ὀνομα stem and shows the name as something spoken and identified.
onomasia: naming or designation
ὀνομασία
It shares the same stem and connects the name to the act of identifying someone.
λαλεῖν
lalein
GROWS FROM
λαλέω
to speak or utter aloud
“speak” in this verse is lalein. The verb marks voiced utterance: the order reaches what may be said aloud. Its word family keeps the focus on speech as an act that can be commanded against, while the following verse shows that the teaching continues.
ALSO GROWS
lalia: speech or utterance
λαλιά
It shares the λαλέω family and names the spoken expression targeted by the order.
lalos: speaking or talkative
λάλος
It shares the same root family and keeps attention on the act of speaking.
THE PATTERN
A command can restrain a speaker’s voice without extinguishing the word pressing toward expression.
Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his nature. But his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it in, and I could not.And they called them and commanded them not to let a sound out at all, nor to teach in the nature of Jesus.And every day in the temple and house by house, they did not cease teaching and bringing the good news of Jesus, the Anointed One.THE THREAD
Then he released Barabbas for them, and after he had whipped Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.The same Greek verb family, ἀπολύω (apolyō, “release”), names Pilate’s act toward Barabbas. That connection shows that release by itself does not settle what is just or what follows: here, as in Acts, release sits alongside another person’s suffering.
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