What Does Acts 20:7 Mean in the King James?
And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
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 Greek word rendered “preached” also carries the sense of reasoned discourse, and the verse names the speech that lasts until midnight as a word unfolding.
THE MEANING
The verse holds shared food and sustained teaching within one gathering. Words continue into the night while bread is broken among the disciples, so the table and the unfolding discourse occupy the same communal space. Nourishment and understanding belong together here.
THE ROOT
διελέγετο
dielegeto
GROWS FROM
λέγω
legō
to say or speak; in this word family, to reason or discuss through speech
The verb belongs to a family of speaking and reasoning, and its compound form can describe discussing a matter. The verse then names what continues until midnight as a word or discourse, so “preached” carries an added sense of thought spoken through at length.
ALSO GROWS
dialexis: discussion, discourse
διάλεξις
This related noun makes the discourse sense of the verb visible.
logos: word, discourse
λόγος
The same verse calls Paul’s prolonged speech a word or discourse, linking the act of speaking with what unfolds until midnight.
κλάσαι
klasai
GROWS FROM
κλάω
klaō
to break, break into pieces
“break” in this verse is klasai. The word for breaking shares its root with the noun translated “breaking” in the community’s “breaking of bread.” English keeps the action visible here, while the shared root lets this meal echo a continuing form of life together.
ALSO GROWS
klasis: breaking; breaking of bread
κλάσις
This noun appears in Acts 2:42 for the community’s breaking of bread, linking this meal to a repeated shared practice.
klasma: a broken piece, fragment
κλάσμα
This branch names what results from breaking, making the root’s movement from action to shared pieces clear.
THE PATTERN
Breaking bread becomes a shared act through which recognition and participation are named.
And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.THE THREAD
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.Acts 20:7 uses the verb for breaking bread; Acts 2:42 names the same action as the community’s “breaking of bread.” The shared root connects one meal to a repeated practice of life together.
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