What Does Acts 21:23 Mean in the King James?
Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
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
A vow is something these men carry upon themselves, joining spoken commitment to the shape of a life.
THE MEANING
A commitment can be more than a private intention: it is borne in the life of the person who makes it. The words “upon themselves” show the vow as something carried into relationship, where others can recognize its expression.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that sincerity exists only inside a person and never needs to take a form others can see.
THE ROOT
εὐχή
euchē
GROWS FROM
εὔχομαι
euchomai
to pray or express a wish; also, to make a vow
The Greek noun εὐχή can mean both “prayer” and “vow,” holding spoken desire and pledged commitment together. Here, that commitment is described as resting upon the men themselves: the words have become something they bear.
ALSO GROWS
euchomai: to pray, wish, or make a vow
εὔχομαι
The related verb links a vow to expressed desire, giving the commitment a spoken beginning.
euchē: prayer, wish, or vow
εὐχή
The noun carries both prayer and pledge, revealing the vow as desire given a lasting form.
THE PATTERN
A vow joins inner intention to an outward commitment that can be witnessed.
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD:I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.THE THREAD
And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.Acts 18:18 uses the same Greek noun, εὐχή (euchē, “vow”), for a commitment Paul bears and marks by shaving his head. That shared word makes “a vow on them” concrete: the vow can be carried into visible practice.
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