What Does Acts 23:31 Mean in the King James?
Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris.
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 same armed escort that confines Paul also carries him beyond the immediate threat.
THE MEANING
Paul remains in soldiers’ custody, yet they move him onward through the night. The journey is not his to direct; here, movement toward safety happens under orders he did not give.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that protection must feel like freedom breaks here: Paul is still under guard as he is carried onward.
THE ROOT
ἤγαγον
ēgagon from agō
GROWS FROM
ἄγω
To lead, bring, or conduct.
The Greek word for “brought” carries the sense of being led: Paul is moved under someone else’s direction. The same root can describe being led out or people being gathered together; here it names an armed escort, movement without freedom.
ALSO GROWS
exagō: Lead or bring out.
ἐξάγω
Acts 12:17 uses this related form when Peter says the Lord brought him out of prison, echoing movement out of custody.
synagōgē: A gathering or assembly; literally, a bringing together.
συναγωγή
This branch shows the root can describe people being brought together, while Acts 23:31 uses it for a person being conducted along a guarded route.
THE PATTERN
A passage through danger can be directed and preserved even when the traveler does not control the route.
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.THE THREAD
But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.Acts 12:17 uses ἐξάγω, a form of the same Greek root as “brought” in this verse: to lead or bring. Peter is led out of prison; Paul is led through the night under guard. The shared root holds both movements together while their circumstances remain sharply different.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us