What Does Acts 24:13 Mean in the King James?
Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse 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
An accusation can be spoken aloud without anything being able to stand beside it as proof.
THE MEANING
When you are accused, the urgency of the claim does not establish its truth. What is said against you and what can be presented to support it remain distinct.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a charge becomes proven simply because people are making it now.
THE ROOT
παραστῆσαι
parastēsai
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
To stand; with παρά (para, beside), the verb carries the sense of placing or presenting something beside another thing.
The word translated “prove” pictures evidence being set before someone, where it can stand beside the charge. English can make proof sound like an abstract conclusion; the Greek gives it the shape of a claim supported by something present.
ALSO GROWS
anistēmi: Rise, stand up.
ἀνίστημι
It shares the root sense of standing, showing that what rises can be made visible and assessed.
kathistēmi: Set in place, appoint.
καθίστημι
It shares the same root and shows how something is established by being placed in position.
κατηγοροῦσιν
katēgorousin
GROWS FROM
ἀγορεύω (agoreuō), with κατά (kata, against)
To speak publicly against someone; to bring a public charge.
“accuse” in this verse is katēgorousin. The accusation word carries the image of speaking against someone in public. The verse sets that public charge beside what the accusers cannot present: their words are being spoken, but the evidence does not stand with them.
ALSO GROWS
agora: A public gathering place or marketplace.
ἀγορά
It shares the public-speaking word family behind the charge, giving the accusation a public setting.
katēgoria: An accusation or formal charge.
κατηγορία
It is the related noun for the charge itself, distinct from whether the charge can be established.
THE PATTERN
A charge gains standing through tested testimony, not merely by being spoken.
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.THE THREAD
This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.“Established” translates σταθήσεται (stathēsetai), from the same ἵστημι (histēmi), “stand,” root carried by “prove” here. The shared root makes the link visible: a word is established when it can stand on testimony.
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