What Does Acts 18:16 Mean in the King James?

And he drave them from the judgment seat.

Acts 18:16 · 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.

THE KEY

“Drave” carries the force of being propelled away: the verse records expulsion from judgment, not a ruling on the claim.

THE MEANING

A claim can be expelled from a hearing without being answered on its merits. Removal from a forum and judgment of the claim are different outcomes.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Being driven away from the judgment seat does not establish that a claim is false, or that it has been judged.

THE ROOT

ἀπήλασεν

apēlasen

GROWS FROM

ἐλαυν-

elaun-

Drive or propel; the prefix ⁨ἀπό⁩ (apo, away from) directs the motion away.

The verb comes from ⁨ἐλαύνω⁩ (elaunō, to drive or propel); its prefix ⁨ἀπό⁩ (apo, away from) turns motion into removal. English “drave” keeps the force but hides how the word directs that force away from the forum.

ALSO GROWS

elaunō: Drive, propel; also row a boat.

ἐλαύνω

The force beneath the compound is movement under pressure, not a neutral dismissal.

apelaunō: Drive away, expel.

ἀπελαύνω

With ⁨ἀπό⁩ (apo, away from), the motion is directed out of a place.

βήματος

bēmatos

GROWS FROM

βαιν-

bain-

Step, go; the source of words for a step or platform.

“judgment seat” in this verse is bēmatos. The Greek noun ⁨βῆμα⁩ (bēma, step or platform; by extension, tribunal) comes from ⁨βαίνω⁩ (bainō, to step or go). English “seat” can suggest a fixed chair, while the root keeps the image of a platform people stand upon; the verse describes them being driven from that place of judgment.

ALSO GROWS

bainō: Step, go.

βαίνω

This verb supplies the stepping image beneath the tribunal’s name.

basis: Step, footing, base.

βάσις

This related word makes the platform’s footing audible beneath English “seat.”

THE PATTERN

The boundary of a judge’s authority shapes whether a claim is heard, declined, or carried to another forum.

Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.

Deuteronomy 1:17 · KJVA hard case passes to an authority able to hear it rather than being forced into the wrong forum.

And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?

Luke 12:14 · KJVJesus declines the role of judge in an inheritance dispute, naming a boundary on his authority in that forum.

Then said Paul, I stand at Cæsar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest.

Acts 25:10 · KJVPaul names Caesar’s judgment seat as the place where his case should be heard, making the forum part of the claim.

THE THREAD

But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Romans 14:10 · KJV

Romans 14:10 uses ⁨βῆμα⁩ (bēma, a step or platform; a tribunal), the same Greek noun as “judgment seat” here, and says all stand before it. The shared word places expulsion from a human forum beside universal standing before judgment, so rejection of a hearing is not itself the final verdict.

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