What Does Acts 13:11 Mean in the King James?
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
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 Lord’s hand that comes upon him is followed by the hand he must seek to lead him.
THE MEANING
The Lord’s hand comes upon him; sight vanishes into mist and darkness, and he seeks someone to lead him by the hand. “For a season” bounds the blindness without softening the immediate dependence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a person can obstruct the Lord’s way while remaining in control is undone: sight disappears, and he must seek another’s hand to move.
THE ROOT
χείρ
cheir
GROWS FROM
χειρ
cheir
The basic sense is “hand”; by extension, it can name power or agency.
The first “hand” names the Lord’s agency; later in the same verse, the Greek builds that same hand-word into χειραγωγός (cheiragōgos, one who leads by the hand). The force that comes upon him and the guidance he now needs are joined by the same word-family.
ALSO GROWS
cheiragōgos: A guide who leads someone by the hand.
χειραγωγός
This is the word for the guides he seeks after his sight fails: the verse moves from the Lord’s hand upon him to his need for another hand to lead him.
cheiragōgeō: To lead someone by the hand.
χειραγωγέω
Acts 9:8 uses this related verb when others lead the blinded Saul by the hand, connecting the loss of sight with dependence on another’s guidance.
THE PATTERN
When sight fails, dependence becomes bodily: another hand must lead, or a way beyond sight must be opened.
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.THE THREAD
And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.Both verses use a form from χειραγωγέω (cheiragōgeō, “to lead by the hand”), joining blindness to physical dependence. Acts 13:11 makes the Lord’s hand and the hand-guide part of one tightly bound image; Acts 9:8 echoes that same word-family.
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