What Does Acts 9:5 Mean in the King James?
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
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
Jesus identifies himself as the one Saul is persecuting, and the goad image shows resistance striking against the very point meant to redirect him.
THE MEANING
Jesus identifies himself with the one you are pursuing: the one you resist is not distant from the harm you cause. The goad image makes resistance immediate and bodily, kicking against a pointed guide wounds the kicker. Your question, “Who art thou?” meets a presence that also reveals what your force is pressing against.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that you can oppose someone without touching the one who stands with them is undone: Jesus names the persecution as directed at himself.
THE ROOT
κέντρα
kéntra
GROWS FROM
κεντρ
A pointed instrument: a goad or sting.
κέντρα is the plural of κέντρον, a pointed goad; the same Greek noun names the sting of death in 1 Corinthians 15:55. English “pricks” names the felt point, while the Greek word preserves its double role as something that prods and something that wounds.
ALSO GROWS
kéntron: A point, goad, or sting.
κέντρον
This is the singular form behind κέντρα here and the same noun translated “sting” in 1 Corinthians 15:55, exposing the shared pointed image.
enkentrízō: To graft in by insertion.
ἐγκεντρίζω
This related word appears in Romans 11:17 for grafting a branch into an olive tree; the consonantal family links the pointed image with insertion as well as pain.
διώκεις
diṓkeis
GROWS FROM
διωκ
To pursue or chase; in this verse, to persecute.
The root retains pursuit beneath the severe English “persecutest.” The same verb can describe persecuting a person or pursuing righteousness, so the direction of the pursuit matters.
ALSO GROWS
diṓkō: To pursue, chase, or persecute.
διώκω
This is the verb’s dictionary form; in 1 Timothy 6:11 the KJV renders it “follow after” in the command to pursue righteousness.
diōgmós: Pursuit or persecution.
διωγμός
This related noun names persecution as an experience, carrying the same pursuit-root from the persecutor’s action to what the pursued person endures.
THE PATTERN
A sharp point can guide movement, but when it is met with resistance it is felt as pain.
The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?THE THREAD
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?Acts uses the plural κέντρα for the goads Saul kicks against; here κέντρον is translated “sting.” The same Greek word holds together a pointed force that prods and a point experienced as a wound.
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