What Does Acts 5:41 Mean?
So they went from the face of the council, rejoicing that they were weighed worthy to be dishonored for his nature.
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 they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.THE KEY
The disgrace remains real, but suffering it for his name turns the council’s dishonor into a mark of honor.
THE MEANING
When you are shamed for carrying his nature, the shame is real, but the judgment of others does not set your worth. This verse holds disgrace and joy in the same moment: the disgrace is received as an honor because it is borne for his name.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that public shame proves you have lost your worth; this verse shows that disgrace borne for his name can itself be counted worthy.
THE ROOT
ἀτιμασθῆναι
atimasthēnai
GROWS FROM
τιμ-
tim-
Honor, value, esteem; the word adds a privative prefix, giving the sense of being treated as without honor.
“be dishonored” in this verse is atimasthēnai. The Greek word for shame belongs to the same word family as honor and value. The council’s act strips them of public honor, yet the verse presents that very disgrace as something they can receive with joy for his name.
ALSO GROWS
timē: Honor, value, esteem
τιμή
This is the honor-language hidden inside the word translated “shame.”
atimos: Without honor, dishonored
ἄτιμος
It shows how the word frames shame as being treated as if one has no value.
atimia: Dishonor, disgrace
ἀτιμία
This noun names the same loss of public honor that the apostles endure.
κατηξιώθησαν
katēxiōthēsan
GROWS FROM
ἄξιος / ἀξιο- (axios / axio-)
Worthy, of value, fitting; the verb means to deem or count worthy.
“weighed worthy” in this verse is katēxiōthēsan. The verb is passive: they are counted worthy. Their suffering is not presented as something that earns them worth; the verse gives a different valuation to the disgrace inflicted on them.
ALSO GROWS
axios: Worthy, of value, fitting
ἄξιος
This is the word-family at the heart of the phrase “counted worthy.”
axioō: To deem worthy, consider fit
ἀξιόω
It makes clear that the verse describes a judgment of their suffering, not a claim they make about themselves.
ὀνόματος
onomatos
GROWS FROM
ὀνοματ-
onomat-
Name, designation, the identity by which someone is known.
“For his name” reaches beyond a label to the nature and character they stand for. That is why the disgrace is attached to him, while the council’s judgment cannot define their worth.
ALSO GROWS
onoma: Name, designation
ὄνομα
This is the noun in the verse, in the phrase “for his name.”
onomazō: To name, call, or mention
ὀνομάζω
The related verb shows a name as something spoken and associated with a person.
onomastos: Named, renowned
ὀνομαστός
This branch links a name with the identity by which someone becomes known.
THE PATTERN
When people are shamed for bearing God’s name, scripture recasts public dishonor as honor received from God.
For your sake I carry reproach, and shame covers my face.Flourishing are you when they revile you, and pursue you, and speak every evil word against you, lying, for my sake.If you are reviled in the nature of the Anointed One, flourishing are you, for the breath of weight and of God rests upon you. On their side he is spoken against, but on your side he is given weight.THE THREAD
If you are reviled in the nature of the Anointed One, flourishing are you, for the breath of weight and of God rests upon you. On their side he is spoken against, but on your side he is given weight.This verse uses the same Greek word for “name” (ὄνομα, onoma) and joins reproach to that name. It opens Acts 5:41 further: the disgrace is real, yet it does not define the worth of the ones who bear his nature.
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