What Does Acts 23:5 Mean in the King James?
Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
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
In Greek, “high priest” and “ruler” share the same root of leading, linking Paul’s recognition of the man to the boundary he quotes about authority.
THE MEANING
This verse holds two realities together for you: a ruler can act unjustly, and words directed at that ruler still carry a boundary. Recognition of a person’s office can arrive after the words, and the boundary becomes visible then.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
An unjust ruler forfeits every boundary around how I speak about him.
THE ROOT
ἄρχοντα
archonta
GROWS FROM
ἀρχ- (from ἄρχω, archō)
To lead, rule, or begin; the position at the head.
The Greek word for “ruler” shares its ἀρχ- element with the word translated “high priest.” English separates the titles, while the Greek connects both to a leading role, and Paul’s recognition of one brings the quoted boundary about the other into view.
ALSO GROWS
archiereus: chief priest, high priest
ἀρχιερεύς
This is the title Paul says he did not recognize; it shares the ἀρχ- element with the word for ruler.
archē: beginning, rule, authority
ἀρχή
It makes the shared element visible as a word for beginning or governing, connecting both titles to a place at the head.
THE PATTERN
A person’s role in public authority brings the words and posture directed toward them under a distinct boundary.
Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.THE THREAD
Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.Acts repeats Exodus’s command about the ruler, carrying the same Greek term, ἄρχοντα (archonta), in the quoted clause. The source verse places that speech boundary beside another prohibition on reviling, widening the frame around Paul’s words.
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