What Does Acts 28:14 Mean in the King James?
Where we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven days: and so we went toward Rome.
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 word translated “tarry” is the language of abiding, so the road toward Rome includes seven days of remaining with people.
THE MEANING
Your movement toward what lies ahead includes the people who receive you along the way. Staying among them is part of the journey, not outside it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Forward movement does not require uninterrupted motion; a pause in company can belong to the journey itself.
THE ROOT
ἐπιμεῖναι
epimeinai
GROWS FROM
μένω
menō
Remain, stay, abide; continue in a place or relationship.
English “tarry” can sound like a mere delay, but this word belongs to the same root translated “abide.” The seven days are a form of remaining with others, woven into the journey rather than set apart from it.
ALSO GROWS
menō: Remain, stay, abide.
μένω
This root appears as “abide” in John 15:4, carrying the sense of staying into relationship.
hypomenō: Remain, endure, persevere.
ὑπομένω
The same root can describe continuing through difficulty; here it reveals staying as a meaningful interval within forward movement.
παρεκλήθημεν
pareklēthēmen
GROWS FROM
παρακαλέω
parakaleō
Urge, appeal, encourage, or comfort, according to context.
“desired” in this verse is pareklēthēmen. The travelers are actively appealed to, not simply allowed to stop. This word family also names encouragement and comfort, giving the invitation to stay the feel of support as well as request.
ALSO GROWS
paraklēsis: Encouragement, appeal, consolation.
παράκλησις
The family can name encouragement and consolation, linking the appeal to stay with the support offered through welcome.
paraklētos: Comforter, advocate, helper.
παράκλητος
This related word shows another expression of the same word family: a presence that supports or speaks for someone.
THE PATTERN
A road can carry forward through an interval of hospitality, where travelers are received and stay.
And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.THE THREAD
But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.Here, fellow travelers urge a companion to remain with them; in Acts, the brethren appeal to the travelers to stay. The same root underlies both invitations, revealing the pause as shared presence within the journey.
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