What Does Acts 14:26 Mean in the King James?
And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
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 workers are already handed over to God’s favor before the verse names the work as completed.
THE MEANING
You meet work as someone already entrusted within God’s favor. Favor comes before the task, and the task reaches completion within that prior gift. The completed work reveals what was carried through; it does not become the price that purchased favor.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that God’s favor is a wage earned by finished work: here, being entrusted to favor comes before the work.
THE ROOT
παραδεδομένοι
paradedomenoi
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
To give or grant; in the verse’s compound, to hand over or entrust.
The word often translated “recommended” carries the sense of being handed over or entrusted, adding the image of being placed in another’s keeping. The work begins from that prior entrusting, rather than from the workers establishing their own standing.
ALSO GROWS
paradidōmi: Hand over, deliver, entrust.
παραδίδωμι
This compound is the verb behind “recommended,” giving the commissioning the sense of being placed in God’s favor.
metadidōmi: Impart, share, give a portion.
μεταδίδωμι
This related form shows giving as placing something into another’s share, echoing the workers’ being entrusted to their task.
χάριτι
chariti
GROWS FROM
χάρις
charis
Favor, gracious regard, or a freely given gift.
The word rendered “grace” is favor, and its word family includes both a gift given freely and the act of granting favor. The workers’ commissioning belongs to what they receive; it is not compensation earned by completing the work.
ALSO GROWS
charisma: A gift freely given.
χάρισμα
This branch makes visible how favor can arrive as something received before it becomes service.
charizomai: Show favor, give freely, or forgive.
χαρίζομαι
The same word family joins favor with freely giving, deepening the sense of the workers being entrusted rather than paid in advance.
ἐπλήρωσαν
eplērōsan
GROWS FROM
πληρόω
plēroō
Fill, make full, bring to completion.
The verb translated “fulfilled” also carries the image of filling to fullness. The work reaches its full measure after the workers have already been entrusted to favor, so completion is the fruit of what they received, not its price.
ALSO GROWS
plērōma: Fullness, that which fills.
πλήρωμα
This branch makes completion visible as reaching fullness, not merely checking off an assignment.
plērēs: Full, complete.
πλήρης
This related form reinforces the sense that the work has been brought to its full measure.
THE PATTERN
Work is entrusted within God’s favor, and its completion remains held by what was received first.
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.THE THREAD
And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God.This verse repeats the verb of being handed over and the same word for favor, showing that “recommended” carries more than spoken approval. The pairing reveals a cycle: workers are entrusted into favor, and that favor remains their frame as one work ends and another begins.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us