What Does Acts 9:26 Mean?
And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to cleave to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not trusting that he was a disciple.
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 when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.THE KEY
The verb behind “join” pictures glue: Saul reaches for close attachment, but fear keeps the bond from forming.
THE MEANING
A person can truly change and still be met with fear that withholds trust. The word translated “join” carries the sense of attaching closely, holding the reach for connection beside the fear that keeps it from taking hold.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a changed person is immediately recognized as changed.
THE ROOT
κολλᾶσθαι
kollasthai
GROWS FROM
κολλάω
kollaō
To glue or stick; by extension, to attach closely, join, or cleave.
“tried to cleave to” in this verse is kollasthai. The verb behind “join” carries the image of sticking or gluing together, more closely than simply entering a group. Saul reaches for attachment while the disciples’ fear holds them at a distance, placing closeness and withheld trust in the same moment.
ALSO GROWS
kollēthentes: Having attached themselves; having joined closely.
κολληθέντες
In Acts 17:34, this same verb family describes people who attach themselves to Paul and trust; joining and trust appear together.
kollōmenos: One who is joined or cleaves.
κολλώμενος
In 1 Corinthians 6:17, the same root describes close attachment to the Lord, showing that the verb names a bond rather than mere proximity.
THE PATTERN
Fear makes a changed identity hard to receive; encounter, witness, and welcome open the way to recognition.
Joseph said to his brothers, Draw near to me, I pray you. And they drew near. And he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.But Barnabas took hold of him and led him to the sent ones, and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken openly in the nature of Jesus.Therefore take hold of one another, as the Anointed One also took hold of us, to the end that God is given weight.THE THREAD
But some men stuck fast to him and leaned their full weight upon him, among whom were Dionysius of the Rock of Ares and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.Acts 17:34 uses the same verb family for people who “clave” to Paul and trusted. The verb holds close attachment and trust together, making the gap in Acts 9 between Saul’s reach to join and the disciples’ withheld trust visible.
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