What Does Acts 9:6 Mean?
Trembling and astonished, he said, Lord, what do you want me to do? And the Lord said to him, Stand up, and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.
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 he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.THE KEY
The answer to “What do you want me to do?” begins with a threshold to cross; the next instruction is spoken on the far side.
THE MEANING
You can be shaken and still receive only the next direction; the larger task is not yet disclosed. What comes next becomes clear through arrival, where it is spoken.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that clarity must arrive as a complete map before you can take a next step.
THE ROOT
ἀνάστηθι
anastēthi
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
stand; set in place
“Stand up” in this verse is anastēthi. The command is built from ana (up) and histēmi (stand), and this same word family also names rising from death. The first answer is a change of stance before the action is disclosed.
ALSO GROWS
anistēmi: rise, stand up
ἀνίστημι
This is the verb family behind the command’s imperative form.
anastasis: rising, resurrection
ἀνάστασις
The same stand-and-rise family can name resurrection, giving “arise” a resonance of new standing.
stasis: standing, position
στάσις
This branch keeps the root’s image of being set in a position.
εἴσελθε
eiselthe
GROWS FROM
ἔρχομαι
erchomai
come, go, arrive
“enter” in this verse is eiselthe. The Greek word translated “go into” joins a direction inward with erchomai, the verb for coming, going, or arriving. The instruction is specifically an entry, and the next speech meets the questioner there.
ALSO GROWS
erchomai: come, go, arrive
ἔρχομαι
This is the movement verb at the heart of the command.
exerchomai: go out, come out
ἐξέρχομαι
A different prefix gives the same verb family an outward direction, making the inward movement here more vivid.
parerchomai: pass by, pass away
παρέρχομαι
The shared movement stem can describe passing across or away; here the direction leads into a place.
λαληθήσεται
lalēthēsetai
GROWS FROM
λαλέω
laleō
speak; utter
“Will be told” in this verse is lalēthēsetai. This is a future passive form: the action of speaking becomes “it will be spoken to you.” The answer is not already held as a complete plan; it arrives as speech after entry.
ALSO GROWS
laleō: speak, utter
λαλέω
This is the speaking verb from which the future form in the verse is built.
lalia: speech, manner of speaking
λαλιά
This related noun names speech itself, connecting the promised telling with an audible act.
THE PATTERN
Direction can arrive in stages: the next movement is clear before the whole path is.
And the LORD said to Abram, Go away from your land, from your land of birth, and from your father's house, to the land I will let you see.Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.But when he comes, the breath of truth, he will lead you along the way into all truth. For he will not speak from himself, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will bring word back to you of the coming things.THE THREAD
And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Stand up, and go into Damascus, and there it will be spoken to you concerning all that has been arranged for you to do.The retelling preserves the same imperative “Arise” (ἀνάστηθι, anastēthi: rise, stand up) and the same sequence of going before being told. It makes explicit what Acts 9:6 holds more briefly: the appointed work is disclosed after arrival.
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