What Does Acts 21:7 Mean in the King James?

And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day.

Acts 21:7 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Here the voyage finds its human destination in a day of shared presence: greeting the brethren becomes staying with them.

THE MEANING

Your arrival can become more than reaching a place: it opens into recognition, then into time shared with others. Even a single day among kin is a real form of remaining.

THE ROOT

ἐμείναμεν

emeinamen

GROWS FROM

μένω

menō

to remain, stay, or abide

“abode” in this verse is emeinamen. The Greek verb is ⁨μένω⁩ (menō), meaning “remain, stay, abide”; the scene supplies its duration. Here it names a stay of one day, showing that even brief shared presence is a form of remaining.

ALSO GROWS

monē: dwelling place, abode

μονή

This related word carries remaining into the place where one stays.

epimenō: continue, remain

ἐπιμένω

This related verb extends the same idea of staying through time.

ἀδελφούς

adelphous

GROWS FROM

ἀδελφός

adelphos

brother or sibling; traditionally understood as one sharing the womb

“brethren” in this verse is adelphous. The people they greet are named as siblings, not merely acquaintances. Their arrival becomes an encounter among kin, and the next phrase gives that recognition time to become shared presence.

ALSO GROWS

adelphē: sister

ἀδελφή

The feminine form names a sibling within the same kinship language.

adelphotēs: brotherhood, siblinghood

ἀδελφότης

This related noun gathers individual siblings into a shared kinship.

πλοῦν

ploun

GROWS FROM

πλέω

pleō

to sail, travel by sea

The Greek phrase names a voyage from Tyre, giving “course” the concrete texture of sea travel. The completed sailing brings the travelers to a port, where the verse turns from navigation to the people they greet.

ALSO GROWS

plous: voyage, sailing

πλοῦς

This noun names the sea journey completed in the verse.

ploion: ship, vessel

πλοῖον

This related word names what carries a voyage across the water.

THE PATTERN

Arrival becomes fellowship when travelers are received into shared presence.

Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

Genesis 18:4-5 · KJVTravelers are welcomed with water, rest, and bread before they continue on their way.

Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

Romans 12:13 · KJVHospitality turns another person’s need for a place or help into shared care.

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Hebrews 13:2 · KJVThe verse places welcome at the point where strangers are received into company.

THE THREAD

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

John 15:4 · KJV

The verb behind “abode” is ⁨μένω⁩ (menō), meaning “remain” or “abide,” the same verb repeated here. Acts uses it for one day in company; John uses it for abiding in the vine, while context gives each staying its duration and depth.

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