What Does Acts 26:3 Mean in the King James?
Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
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
This verse asks expertise to become patient listening: knowing the disputed subject does not pre-empt hearing the person speaking.
THE MEANING
You may know the customs and questions, yet still need room for another person’s account to unfold. Here knowledge stands beside patient listening: expertise does not erase the need to hear this particular voice.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that familiarity with a subject lets you reach a verdict before hearing someone’s account.
THE ROOT
μακροθύμως
makrothymōs
GROWS FROM
μακροθυμ-
makrothym-
Long restraint; slow to heat.
“patiently” in this verse is makrothymōs. The word carries the sense of a long interval before heat rises. Here, patient hearing names the listener’s pace, not just the length of the speech.
ALSO GROWS
makrothymia: Patience or forbearance.
μακροθυμία
It is the same family as the adverb in this verse, naming the sustained restraint that makes patient hearing possible.
makrothymeō: To remain patient or forbear.
μακροθυμέω
This verb shows the same root as an ongoing posture, rather than a brief pause.
γνωστήν
gnōstēn
GROWS FROM
γινώσκω
ginōskō
Know, perceive.
“expert” in this verse is gnōstēn. The word points to familiarity with the customs and questions, a knowing that comes through encounter. Even that familiarity does not replace hearing the account being offered now.
ALSO GROWS
gnōsis: Knowledge or understanding.
γνῶσις
It shows the knowledge associated with the same word family, which the verse places alongside a fresh act of listening.
gnōstos: Known or familiar.
γνωστός
Its sense of familiarity clarifies why Agrippa is described as expert in these customs and questions.
ζητημάτων
zētēmatōn
GROWS FROM
ζητέω
zēteō
Seek, inquire.
The questions are ζητήματα (zētēmata, matters under inquiry), from ζητέω (zēteō, to seek). The verse places expertise amid active inquiry, where patient hearing still matters.
ALSO GROWS
zētēma: A question, issue, or disputed matter.
ζήτημα
It is the singular form behind the questions named in the verse.
zētēsis: An inquiry or debate.
ζήτησις
This branch shows how the same seeking can take the form of an active dispute.
THE PATTERN
Patient listening delays reaction long enough for another person’s account to be heard.
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:THE THREAD
And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;“Longsuffering” comes from the same Greek family, μακροθυμ- (makrothym-, long restraint; slow to heat), as “patiently” in Acts. Acts shows that quality shaping how one person hears; Peter names it as a quality of the Lord.
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