What Does Acts 8:40 Mean?
But Philip was found at Azotus; and passing through, he brought the good news to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
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
But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Cæsarea.THE KEY
The verb translated “preached” names the carrying of good news, so the message travels city by city with Philip.
THE MEANING
Philip’s route carries the good news through the cities, and the verse meets you now in the places you inhabit: no single location owns the announcement. Its movement is part of its meaning; the message reaches people along the way, not only at a destination.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the good news belongs only in one sacred place: here the announcement moves through ordinary cities as Philip travels.
THE ROOT
εὐηγγελίζετο
euēngelizeto
GROWS FROM
ἀγγελ-
angel-
Messenger; one who carries a message.
“brought the good news” in this verse is euēngelizeto. The Greek verb belongs to the εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion, good news) word family, formed from εὖ (eu, good) and ἄγγελος (angelos, messenger). “Preached” therefore carries the sense of announcing good news; in this verse, the announcement travels through city after city with its messenger.
ALSO GROWS
angelos: Messenger
ἄγγελος
The messenger bears the announcement; the verb names the act of carrying it through these cities.
euangelion: Good news
εὐαγγέλιον
This names the message carried by the verb: Philip’s movement gives the announcement a route through the cities.
THE PATTERN
Good news travels by being carried into place after place; its movement is part of its message.
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the one who brings good news, who makes wholeness heard, who brings good news of good, who makes deliverance heard, who says to Zion, Your God governs.And Jesus went around all the cities and villages, teaching in their gatherings, heralding the good news of the governance, and healing every sickness and every weakness among the people.So those who were scattered passed through every place, bringing the good news of the word.THE THREAD
And how will they herald unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!Romans uses the same Greek verb family for those who announce good news. Its image of beautiful feet shows that movement is part of the announcement: the message is carried from place to place.
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