What Does Acts 23:22 Mean in the King James?
So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me.
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
Freedom of movement and restraint of speech coexist: being released does not make entrusted knowledge public.
THE MEANING
A disclosure entrusted to one person can remain bounded; revealing something does not automatically make it public property. The verse holds release and restraint together: someone moves free while what was shown stays contained.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that anything revealed must be repeated dissolves here: being shown something does not make every listener entitled to it.
THE ROOT
ἀπέλυσεν
apelysen
GROWS FROM
λύω
luō
Loosen, untie; by extension, release.
“let ... depart” in this verse is apelysen. The departure is expressed through release: ἀπολύω (apoluō, “release, dismiss”) carries the root λύω (luō, “loosen, untie”). Movement opens for the young man, while the instruction keeps the disclosure from spreading.
ALSO GROWS
lysis: A loosening or release.
λύσις
It makes the underlying image in “let ... depart” visible: departure is framed as loosening a hold.
apolysis: Release or dismissal.
ἀπόλυσις
This noun shares the release sense of ἀπολύω (apoluō), showing how the word family carries the idea of being let go.
παραγγείλας
parangeilas
GROWS FROM
ἀγγέλλω
angellō
Announce or convey a message.
“charged” in this verse is parangeilas. The command itself is built from the act of bearing a message: παραγγέλλω (parangellō, “charge, command”) comes through ἀγγέλλω (angellō, “announce, convey a message”). The instruction is a message about where the earlier message must stop.
ALSO GROWS
angelos: Messenger.
ἄγγελος
This related word names one who carries a message, echoing the young man entrusted with news.
apangellō: Report or announce.
ἀπαγγέλλω
It shares the announcing family and sharpens the verse’s concern with whether information is carried onward.
ἐνεφάνισας
enephanisas
GROWS FROM
φαίνω
phainō
Appear or become visible; bring into view.
What the young man “shewed” is expressed as making something appear before another: ἐμφανίζω (emphanizō, “make known, make visible”) belongs to φαίνω (phainō, “appear, become visible”). The verse places a disclosure in view, then bounds where that disclosure travels.
ALSO GROWS
phaneros: Visible or manifest.
φανερός
It names what has come into view, the state of the things the young man showed.
epiphaneia: Appearance or manifestation.
ἐπιφάνεια
It carries the same appearance family, reinforcing the movement from something hidden to something made visible.
THE PATTERN
What is revealed can be held within a boundary rather than broadcast to everyone.
A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.THE THREAD
And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.Acts uses ἀπολύω (apoluō, “release, dismiss”), built on λύω (luō, “loosen”). John gives that same root as “Loose him,” making the release in Acts feel like the unbinding that John shows directly.
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