What Does Acts 9:6 Mean in the King James?
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
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 answer to “What do you want me to do?” begins with a threshold to cross; the next instruction is spoken on the far side.
THE MEANING
You can be shaken and still receive only the next direction; the larger task is not yet disclosed. What comes next becomes clear through arrival, where it is spoken.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that clarity must arrive as a complete map before you can take a next step.
THE ROOT
ἀνάστηθι
anastēthi
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
stand; set in place
“Arise” in this verse is anastēthi. The command is built from ana (up) and histēmi (stand), and this same word family also names rising from death. The first answer is a change of stance before the action is disclosed.
ALSO GROWS
anistēmi: rise, stand up
ἀνίστημι
This is the verb family behind the command’s imperative form.
anastasis: rising, resurrection
ἀνάστασις
The same stand-and-rise family can name resurrection, giving “arise” a resonance of new standing.
stasis: standing, position
στάσις
This branch keeps the root’s image of being set in a position.
εἴσελθε
eiselthe
GROWS FROM
ἔρχομαι
erchomai
come, go, arrive
The Greek word translated “go into” joins a direction inward with erchomai, the verb for coming, going, or arriving. The instruction is specifically an entry, and the next speech meets the questioner there.
ALSO GROWS
erchomai: come, go, arrive
ἔρχομαι
This is the movement verb at the heart of the command.
exerchomai: go out, come out
ἐξέρχομαι
A different prefix gives the same verb family an outward direction, making the inward movement here more vivid.
parerchomai: pass by, pass away
παρέρχομαι
The shared movement stem can describe passing across or away; here the direction leads into a place.
λαληθήσεται
lalēthēsetai
GROWS FROM
λαλέω
laleō
speak; utter
“Will be told” in this verse is lalēthēsetai. This is a future passive form: the action of speaking becomes “it will be spoken to you.” The answer is not already held as a complete plan; it arrives as speech after entry.
ALSO GROWS
laleō: speak, utter
λαλέω
This is the speaking verb from which the future form in the verse is built.
lalia: speech, manner of speaking
λαλιά
This related noun names speech itself, connecting the promised telling with an audible act.
THE PATTERN
Direction can arrive in stages: the next movement is clear before the whole path is.
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.THE THREAD
And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.The retelling preserves the same imperative “Arise” (ἀνάστηθι, anastēthi: rise, stand up) and the same sequence of going before being told. It makes explicit what Acts 9:6 holds more briefly: the appointed work is disclosed after arrival.
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