What Does Acts 1:21 Mean in the King James?

Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

Acts 1:21 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The companions’ coming together and Jesus’ going in and out rise from one Greek root, making witness a life shared in motion.

THE MEANING

The Lord’s presence takes shape in ordinary movement: going in and out among people through the whole span. Companionship is lived nearness, with witness rooted in time shared together.

THE ROOT

συνελθόντων

synelthontōn eisēlthen exēlthen

GROWS FROM

ἔρχομαι

erchomai

To come, arrive, or go.

“companied with us; went in and out” in this verse is synelthontōn eisēlthen exēlthen. The Greek makes the companions’ coming together and Jesus’ coming in and going out grow from the same verb, ⁨ἔρχομαι⁩ (erchomai, to come or go). What English separates into companionship and movement is one shared motion: they are together through the full rhythm of his presence.

ALSO GROWS

synerchomai: Come together; accompany.

συνέρχομαι

This is the verb behind “companied with us,” tying the companions’ closeness to the root of coming and going.

eiserchomai: Enter; come in.

εἰσέρχομαι

This compound appears in the verse as Jesus’ movement into the shared space.

exerchomai: Go out; depart.

ἐξέρχομαι

Paired with “come in,” it gives the movement its full span: in and out among people.

THE PATTERN

Witness takes shape through sustained nearness to the one whose life is being witnessed.

And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

John 15:27 · KJVBeing with Jesus from the beginning is the ground given for bearing witness.

Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;

Luke 1:2 · KJVThe account is carried by people who have seen the events from the beginning.

For we can not but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

Acts 4:20 · KJVTheir testimony flows from what they have directly seen and heard.

THE THREAD

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

John 10:9 · KJV

John uses the same Greek verbs, ⁨εἰσέρχομαι⁩ (eiserchomai, enter) and ⁨ἐξέρχομαι⁩ (exerchomai, go out), when Jesus says a person may “go in and out, and find pasture.” Acts describes Jesus moving among people with that same paired motion; John turns it into an open path toward nourishment.

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