What Does Acts 13:25 Mean in the King James?

And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

Acts 13:25 · 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

THE KEY

A course reaches its fullness when its witness points beyond himself to the one who comes next.

THE MEANING

This verse speaks now of a course brought to its full measure without making its bearer the destination. John says, “I am not he,” and names the one who follows, even as he describes himself as unworthy to loose that one’s shoes.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Completion does not mean you must be the one everyone is waiting for. John’s course is complete while he clearly names that he is not that one.

THE ROOT

ἐπλήρου

eplērou

GROWS FROM

πληρ

plēr

fill to the full; bring to completion

The root carries the sense of filling inside “fulfilled”: finishing can mean bringing a course to its full measure. Here, that fullness appears in John’s clear testimony about the one who comes after him.

ALSO GROWS

plērōma: fullness; full measure

πλήρωμα

This branch makes completion feel like a course reaching its full measure, not merely stopping.

plērēs: full; complete

πλήρης

This branch echoes the sense of a course brought to completion.

λῦσαι

lysai

GROWS FROM

λυ

loosen; release

“loose” in this verse is lysai. The verb belongs to a family of words for loosening and release. English can make the image sound like only the small task of untying a sandal, while the root also carries the wider sense of letting go; John places even that act of service below his worthiness.

ALSO GROWS

lysis: loosening; release

λύσις

This noun shows the broader release carried within the act of loosening.

apolyō: release; dismiss

ἀπολύω

This verb extends the root’s sense from loosening something to releasing someone.

THE PATTERN

A witness completes a calling by directing attention past itself toward what is coming.

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Isaiah 40:3 · KJVThe voice is defined by preparing the way for another, not by being the destination.

And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

John 1:20 · KJVJohn names the boundary of his identity instead of taking the title proposed to him.

And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;

Hebrews 3:5 · KJVMoses’s service is described as testimony to what is still to come, so the witness opens forward.

THE THREAD

John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

Luke 3:16 · KJV

Luke uses the same Greek verb for “unloose” as Acts 13:25. The surrounding words make the contrast sharper: John’s image of loosening the shoes stands beside the greater one’s coming action.

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