What Does Acts 10:42 Mean in the King James?

And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
Acts 10:42 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

Death does not mark the edge of this Judge’s jurisdiction: the one appointed by God judges both the living and the dead.

The one God appoints as Judge holds authority over the living and the dead. The line between life and death does not mark the limit of that authority.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Death places a person beyond judgment or beyond the reach of God’s authority.

ὡρισμένος

horisménos

GROWS FROM

ὁρίζω

horízō

To mark out, determine, or appoint.

The word rendered “ordained” comes from a verb for marking out or determining, so the appointment carries the image of being marked out for an office. The verse then places both the living and the dead within this Judge’s remit, across the boundary that seems to divide them.

ALSO GROWS

hórion: A boundary, border, or territory.

ὅριον

This branch makes the boundary-image in “ordained” visible beside the verse’s distinction between living and dead.

horízōn: Horizon; a boundary or limit of view.

ὁρίζων

The horizon is a boundary, while this Judge’s authority extends across the boundary between life and death.

κριτής

kritḗs

GROWS FROM

κρίνω

krínō

To distinguish, decide, or judge.

The Judge is not only a title of authority: the Greek word belongs to a family built around distinguishing and deciding. The verse places the living and the dead within the same field of judgment.

ALSO GROWS

krísis: Judgment or a decision.

κρίσις

This branch names the act of judgment that belongs to the Judge in the verse.

kríma: A judgment, decision, or verdict.

κρῖμα

The shared root links the Judge’s role to the verdict that follows discernment.

God’s appointed Judge has authority over the whole human field, reaching the living, the dead, and the ends of the earth.

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
1 Samuel 2:10 · KJVThe LORD’s judgment reaches the ends of the earth, expressing a scope no earthly boundary contains.
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
John 5:22 · KJVThe verse describes judgment as entrusted by the Father to the Son.
Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
1 Peter 4:5 · KJVLike Acts 10:42, it names the living and the dead together as within the Judge’s reach.
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Acts 17:31 · KJV

Acts 17:31 uses the same Greek word family for the one “ordained” here and the day God “appointed,” and the same family for judging. The resurrection appears in that same sentence as assurance, joining the appointed Judge’s authority to the life-and-death boundary named in Acts 10:42.

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Acts 10:42 KJV Meaning