What Does Acts 18:8 Mean in the King James?
And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.
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 verse’s repeated “believed” makes trust the hinge between hearing and immersion.
THE MEANING
The verse shows hearing opening into trust across a household and among many people, with trust taking bodily form in immersion. To believe on the Lord is to lean your full weight on him, and the shared response makes that trust visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that trust is only inward agreement: here, trust is shared and takes a visible, embodied form.
THE ROOT
ἐπίστευσεν
episteusen
GROWS FROM
πειθ- / πιστ- (peith- / pist-)
Persuade, be persuaded, and come to trust.
Trust here is more than accepting an idea; it is leaning your full weight on the Lord. The related words hold together persuasion, trust, and steadiness, connections that “believed” can leave hidden.
ALSO GROWS
peithō: persuade, prevail upon
πείθω
It shows trust as being persuaded into reliance, not merely agreeing with a claim.
pistis: trust, confidence
πίστις
This related noun names the trust expressed by the verb in the verse.
pistos: firm, steady
πιστός
The related adjective carries the quality of steadiness that lets trust bear weight.
ἐβαπτίσθησαν
ebaptisthēsan
GROWS FROM
βαπ-
bap-
Dip or immerse.
“were baptized” in this verse is ebaptisthēsan. Beneath the familiar word “baptized” is the concrete image of immersion. The verse pairs trust with this bodily movement, making the response visible rather than leaving it as inward assent.
ALSO GROWS
baptō: dip, immerse
βάπτω
This related verb makes the root’s concrete movement clear.
baptisma: immersion
βάπτισμα
The related noun keeps the act of immersion visible in the verse’s response.
THE PATTERN
Hearing opens into trust, and trust takes visible form in the body and community.
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.THE THREAD
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.The verb translated “were baptized” in Acts belongs to the same immersion word-family used here. Galatians opens the image further: immersion into Christ is joined to the picture of putting on Christ.
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