What Does Acts 5:27 Mean in the King James?

And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
Acts 5:27 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

The council does more than position them: the verb translated “set” belongs to the Greek root for standing, rising, and being made to stand.

You can find yourself placed before an authority that claims the right to question you. The verse holds the imposed position and the demand for an answer together: they are made to stand before the council, and the high priest begins asking.

ἔστησαν

estēsan

GROWS FROM

ἵστημι

histēmi

to stand, or to set or cause someone to stand

“set them before” in this verse is estēsan. English “set” can sound like mere placement, but ⁨ἔστησαν⁩ (estēsan, “they made them stand”) gives the scene a bodily posture before the council. The same root appears in words for rising and being made to stand, opening a wider question of who can position or uphold a person.

ALSO GROWS

anistēmi: to rise or stand up

ἀνίστημι

This related form carries the same standing root into rising, a connection English does not make visible in “set.”

stēsai: to cause someone to stand

στῆσαι

Romans 14:4 uses this form when it says God is able to make a person stand, extending the root beyond the council’s physical placement.

When authority brings someone into its hearing, the person’s position and the questions asked reveal the terms of judgment.

Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king.
Daniel 3:13 · KJVA king’s command moves the three men into his presence, making authority a physical location.
Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
John 18:33 · KJVPilate calls Jesus before him and opens with a question that puts the charge into words.
And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?
Acts 4:7 · KJVOfficials place the speakers before them and demand the source of their act.
Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Romans 14:4 · KJV

Acts uses ⁨ἔστησαν⁩ (estēsan, “they made them stand”), from ⁨ἵστημι⁩ (histēmi, “stand or set”); Romans uses ⁨στῆσαι⁩ (stēsai, “to make stand”) from the same root. Acts shows a council placing people before its judgment, while Romans speaks of the one able to make a person stand.

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Acts 5:27 KJV Meaning