What Does Acts 12:10 Mean in the King James?
When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
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 gate opens by itself: release arrives as a passage you can receive, not a barrier you must force open.
THE MEANING
A way through a guarded boundary can open without you forcing it. The passage unfolds step by step, past the guards, through the iron gate, and into the street, until the messenger leaves and you can continue on your own. The verse holds both release and the moment help withdraws.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
You are not free until you have enough strength to force every barrier open.
THE ROOT
ἠνοίγη
ēnoigē
GROWS FROM
ἀνοίγω
anoigō
To open, disclose, or make passable.
“opened” in this verse is ēnoigē. The verb for the gate opening also appears when eyes and a heart open. The same word gathers physical passage and inward access under one image: what was closed becomes available.
ALSO GROWS
diēnoichthēsan: In Luke 24:31, the travelers’ eyes were opened.
διηνοίχθησαν
The gate’s physical opening shares its root with a change in what can be seen.
diēnoixen: In Acts 16:14, the Lord opened Lydia’s heart.
διήνοιξεν
The same root names inward access as well as passage through an iron gate.
THE PATTERN
An opening turns a boundary into passage, whether what is closed is a gate, sight, or a heart.
For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.THE THREAD
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.The verb for the iron gate opening is from ἀνοίγω (anoigō, to open), the same root used when Lydia’s heart opens. The verse links outward release and inward access through one word.
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