What Does Acts 9:11 Mean in the King James?
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
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 prayer is built around “toward,” so Saul is already addressing God when Ananias is sent to seek him.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two movements together: one person is sent toward Saul, and Saul is already praying. The encounter meets an outward search with an inward orientation toward God.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a person’s worst prior actions exhaust who they are: Saul is also named by what he is doing now, praying.
THE ROOT
προσεύχεται
proseúchetai
GROWS FROM
εὔχομαι (eúchomai), joined with πρός (prós)
εὔχομαι means to pray, vow, or express a wish; πρός means toward. Together, προσεύχομαι describes prayer directed toward someone.
“prayeth” in this verse is proseúchetai. The word presents prayer as an address with a direction, not just an inward state. Saul is being sought while already turning his attention toward God.
ALSO GROWS
proseuchḗ: prayer
προσευχή
This noun shares the same compound and shows prayer as an act of address toward God.
euchḗ: prayer or vow
εὐχή
This word from εὔχομαι carries the prayerful address at the center of προσεύχομαι.
ἀνάστηθι
anástēthi
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι (hístēmi), in ἀνίστημι (anístēmi)
ἵστημι means to stand; with ἀνά (aná, up), ἀνίστημι means to stand up or rise.
“Arise” in this verse is anástēthi. The command to get up uses the same word family that can describe rising from the dead. That resurrection connection lives beneath the ordinary movement Ananias is told to make.
ALSO GROWS
stásis: a standing or position
στάσις
This branch keeps the root’s image of standing visible inside the command to rise.
anástasis: a rising; resurrection
ἀνάστασις
This word shares the root family, joining the command to rise with the New Testament’s language for resurrection.
THE PATTERN
Prayer is a directed address, carrying attention toward the one being addressed.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;THE THREAD
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.Acts uses προσεύχομαι for Saul’s present prayer, and Matthew uses the same word for prayer directed to the Father in secret. The shared verb makes Saul’s inward address visible even as the search for him moves outward.
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