What Does Acts 5:33 Mean in the King James?
When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.
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 Greek word for “cut” carries the image of being sawn through, and here that inner rupture turns into a plan to kill.
THE MEANING
A message can pierce deeply and still be resisted: here, the hearers are cut to the heart and then deliberate the speakers’ deaths. The verse holds the inward shock and the outward violence together; being strongly affected does not mean being changed.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Being deeply affected by what you hear means you have changed. Here the hearers are cut to the heart and still choose a plan to kill.
THE ROOT
διεπρίοντο
dieprionto
GROWS FROM
πρίω (príō), in διαπρίω (diapriō)
To saw; διαπρίω means to saw through and, in this use, to be cut inwardly or enraged.
“cut to the heart” in this verse is dieprionto. The Greek preserves a forceful image: they are not merely touched but inwardly sawn through. In this verse, that impact surfaces as fury and a murderous response.
ALSO GROWS
príōn: A saw
πρίων
The related noun keeps the image physical: the verb suggests a dividing action, not a light touch.
diapriō: To saw through; in this use, to be cut to the heart or enraged
διαπρίω
This is the verb behind the KJV phrase, linking the hearers’ inward reaction with the hostility that follows.
ἐβουλεύοντο
ebouleuonto
GROWS FROM
βουλ-
boul-
To deliberate, form a plan, or counsel.
“took counsel” in this verse is ebouleuonto. The Greek describes more than a conversation: the hearers are making a plan. The verse moves from an inward rupture to organized intent, and the intent is to kill.
ALSO GROWS
boulē: Counsel, plan, or purpose
βουλή
This related noun shows the deliberate direction contained in the counsel they take.
symboulion: Council or deliberative meeting
συμβούλιον
This related form points to counsel gathered into a group decision, as the hearers’ reaction becomes a collective plot.
THE PATTERN
When a message exposes what hearers resist, the impact can turn into an attempt to silence its speaker.
Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.THE THREAD
When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.Acts 7:54 uses the same Greek verb, διαπρίω, for being “cut to the heart.” There the reaction becomes gnashing teeth; here, the same inward rupture becomes a plan to kill.
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