What Does Acts 19:34 Mean in the King James?
But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
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
Many mouths become one voice, and the verse measures the force of that unity in two hours of repetition.
THE MEANING
A crowd can turn recognition into a shared cry: many mouths declare Diana great in one voice. The two-hour refrain shows how repetition can magnify a public claim without proving it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A unanimous, sustained cry does not make its claim true; agreement in sound is not proof.
THE ROOT
φωνή
phōnē
GROWS FROM
φων-
phōn-
sound, voice, utterance
The word translated voice also means sound, making the many-to-one image concrete: one sound rises from everyone. Its word family also reaches agreement and harmony, showing how a common sound can feel like accord even when volume does not establish truth.
ALSO GROWS
phōnéō: To sound, call, or speak aloud.
φωνέω
This branch keeps the verse’s voice audible and public, not merely an inward agreement.
symphōnéō: To sound in harmony or agree.
συμφωνέω
The related word joins shared sound with accord, illuminating how many voices can become one public cry.
ἔκραζον
ekrazon
GROWS FROM
κράζω
krázō
to cry aloud, shriek, or utter a raw cry
“cried out” in this verse is ekrazon. The verb marks an audible, forceful cry rather than quiet speech. Its imperfect form presents the shout as ongoing, matching the verse’s two-hour measure.
ALSO GROWS
kraugē: A loud cry or public outcry.
κραυγή
This noun preserves the force of an utterance that fills a public space.
kraugazō: To shout or cry out.
κραυγάζω
This related verb carries the same forceful quality as the crowd’s sustained chant.
THE PATTERN
A shared voice gives repeated words public force, but the sound of agreement alone does not establish their truth.
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:THE THREAD
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.The Greek verb κράζω (krázō, “cry aloud”) is used for Bartimaeus’s plea and the crowd’s chant here. The shared root links one person’s urgent call with a city’s public refrain; what the cry is directed toward gives the same vocal force a different meaning.
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