What Does Acts 23:7 Mean in the King James?
And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.
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 dispute becomes a tear running through the whole crowd.
THE MEANING
When a claim reaches a gathering, differences beneath the surface can become visible: a dispute between two groups reaches the whole multitude. One room can hold people standing in sharply opposed places.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A multitude gathered in one place is not necessarily united in conviction; disagreement can divide it from within.
THE ROOT
ἐσχίσθη
eschisthē
GROWS FROM
σχίζω
schizō
to split, cleave, or tear
“divided” in this verse is eschisthē. The Greek says more than that people hold different opinions: the multitude is split as something torn. The fault line runs from the two named groups into the larger gathering.
ALSO GROWS
schisma: a split, rift, or division
σχίσμα
John 7:43 uses this related noun for a division among people, showing how the word family names a break through a group.
schizō: to split or tear apart
σχίζω
Mark 15:38 uses this verb for the temple veil being torn in two; the same Greek word gives the crowd’s division the force of a tear.
στάσις
stasis
GROWS FROM
στα-/στη- (from ἵστημι, histēmi)
standing, setting, or taking a position
Dissension belongs to a word family built around standing or taking a position. With resurrection named in the immediate argument, the scene ties opposed positions to the question of who can stand again.
ALSO GROWS
histēmi: to stand, set, or establish
ἵστημι
The word family frames dissension as people taking positions against one another.
anastasis: rising or resurrection
ἀνάστασις
The surrounding argument names resurrection as the point of dispute, echoing the same stand-and-rise word family.
THE PATTERN
A claim that meets competing convictions can split a gathered people into visible sides.
And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.So there was a division among the people because of him.But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.THE THREAD
And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.The verb translated “rent” is σχίζω (schizō), the same root behind the crowd being “divided” here. The shared word makes the division concrete: what is split, whether a veil or a multitude, is torn.
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