What Does Acts 16:34 Mean in the King James?
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
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
One person’s trust becomes a joy the whole household can share.
THE MEANING
Trust in God reaches beyond an inward conviction: it becomes welcome at the table and rejoicing shared across a household. The verse holds one person’s trust together with a joy that others can share.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that trust in God is only private and invisible; here, it takes shape in hospitality and shared joy.
THE ROOT
πεπιστευκώς
pepisteukōs
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust grounded in firmness and reliability: leaning your full weight on what is steady.
“believing” in this verse is pepisteukōs. The Greek form presents the jailer as having believed, while the phrase for “with all his house” describes the shared rejoicing. His trust and the household’s joy are held together without making them the same act.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust; faith
πίστις
This noun names the trust that underlies his believing.
pistos: Firm, steady; trustworthy
πιστός
This branch shows the steadiness that makes trust a way of leaning, not just an opinion.
οἶκος
oikos
GROWS FROM
οἰκ-
oik-
House, dwelling, household.
The verse uses house for both the place that welcomes the visitors and the household rejoicing with the jailer. The word holds a dwelling and the people who make it a shared life together.
ALSO GROWS
oikia: House; household
οἰκία
This branch makes clear that “house” can name the people living together as well as the building.
oikeō: Dwell; live in a house
οἰκέω
This branch links the house to the life taking place within it.
ἠγαλλιάσατο
ēgalliasato
GROWS FROM
ἀγαλλια-
agallia-
Exult; rejoice greatly.
“rejoiced” in this verse is ēgalliasato. The verse’s Greek places this rejoicing with the whole household. The joy is not left as a private feeling beside belief; it spreads through the home and accompanies a meal set before others.
ALSO GROWS
agalliasis: Exultation; great joy
ἀγαλλίασις
This related noun appears in Acts 2:46 for joy shared alongside a meal.
agalliaō: Exult; rejoice greatly
ἀγαλλιάω
This is the verb’s lexical form, carrying the sense of exuberant joy found in the household’s rejoicing.
THE PATTERN
Trust in God opens into joy that becomes visible in shared life.
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,THE THREAD
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,The Greek word translated “gladness,” ἀγαλλίασις (agalliasis, exultation), shares its stem with “rejoiced” here. In both verses, that joy meets the table and is shared across a household or community.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us