What Does Acts 6:6 Mean in the King James?
Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on 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
Selection becomes public and embodied: the chosen are set before the apostles, then the apostles lay their hands on them after prayer.
THE MEANING
This verse shows discernment taking visible form: people selected for service are presented before the apostles, then prayer accompanies the laying on of hands. Recognition is communal and embodied, with the selected people standing openly before those who entrust them with responsibility.
THE ROOT
ἐπέθηκαν
epethēkan
GROWS FROM
τίθημι
tithēmi
to put, place, or set
“laid” in this verse is epethēkan. The Greek verb means to place something upon someone, making the hands a literal act of contact. The verse moves from choosing people to placing hands on them: recognition becomes something the community can see and feel.
ALSO GROWS
epithesis: a laying on; placement
ἐπίθεσις
This noun names the same placing-on action, making clear that the hands are not incidental to the scene.
thesis: a placing; a position
θέσις
The shared root carries the sense of setting something in place, echoing how the chosen are given a visible place before the apostles.
ἔστησαν
estēsan
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
to make stand, set upright, or stand
“set before” in this verse is estēsan. The Greek says they made the chosen stand before the apostles. The scene moves from bringing them into view to placing hands upon them after prayer: presentation comes before the embodied act.
ALSO GROWS
stasis: a standing; a position
στάσις
This branch preserves the root’s sense of standing in a visible position, as the chosen do before the apostles.
anastasis: a rising; a standing up
ἀνάστασις
The shared root connects standing with rising, showing how the verb carries a bodily image rather than only the idea of being named.
THE PATTERN
Recognition and responsibility take communal form when people are presented, prayed over, and touched.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.THE THREAD
Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.Luke uses ἐπιτίθημι (epitithēmi, “to place upon”), the same verb used here for laying hands. His scene is healing, while Acts shows people presented for service; the shared verb makes the hands a point of embodied contact, with the purpose shaped by each scene.
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