What Does Acts 4:27 Mean in the King James?
For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
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
A crowd can gather against the one God has anointed; agreement and appointment are not the same thing.
THE MEANING
This verse shows you that a united front can still oppose what God has chosen. Herod, Pilate, Gentiles, and Israel converge against Jesus, yet the text names him as God’s anointed and set-apart one. Their agreement exposes the limits of consensus: shared opposition does not become truth simply because powerful and ordinary voices join it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A united consensus is proof that its judgment is right.
THE ROOT
συναχθῆναι
synachthēnai
GROWS FROM
συνάγω
synagō
To bring or gather together.
“gathered together” in this verse is synachthēnai. The verse uses the same word-family that gives English “synagogue,” a gathering or assembly. Here, people from different ranks and groups assemble against Jesus, showing that gathering together does not by itself make a cause just.
ALSO GROWS
synagōgē: Assembly, gathering
συναγωγή
This noun names the gathered assembly; the verse’s verb describes the groups assembling against Jesus.
episynagō: Gather together
ἐπισυνάγω
This related verb keeps the same image of people being brought into a gathering.
ἔχρισας
echrisas
GROWS FROM
χρίω
chriō
To anoint, or apply oil.
The verb translated “hast anointed” belongs to the same word-family as “Christ,” which means “anointed one.” The verse presents Jesus not just as the target of the gathering, but as the one marked out by God.
ALSO GROWS
christos: Anointed one
χριστός
This title names the one who receives the anointing described by the verb in the verse.
chrisma: Anointing
χρῖσμα
This noun names the anointing itself, sharing the same word-family as the act attributed to God here.
παῖδα
paida
GROWS FROM
παῖς
pais
Child or servant, depending on context.
The Greek word translated “child” can also mean “servant.” That range lets the phrase hold both Jesus’ intimate relation to God and his role in carrying out God’s purpose.
ALSO GROWS
paidion: Child, young child
παιδίον
This related word makes the child sense explicit and familiar.
paidiskē: Maidservant, servant girl
παιδίσκη
This related word shows the servant sense present in the wider word-family.
THE PATTERN
The one God sets apart can be rejected by a united human judgment without losing that appointment.
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,THE THREAD
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,The Greek wording of Psalm 2:2 uses the same gather-family found in Acts 4:27, opening the older pattern behind this gathering. Psalm pairs the rulers’ assembly with opposition to the LORD and his anointed, making the name “anointed” the hinge between the verses.
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