The Meaning of Acts 9:33 Explained

Acts 9:33

KJV: And there he found a certain man named AEneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy.

YLT: and he found there a certain man, Aeneas by name -- for eight years laid upon a couch -- who was paralytic,

Darby: And he found there a certain man, Aeneas by name, who had been lying for eight years upon a couch, who was paralysed.

ASV: And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had kept his bed eight years; for he was palsied.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  there  he found  a certain  man  named  Aeneas,  which had kept  his bed  eight  years,  and  was  sick of the palsy. 

What does Acts 9:33 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Peter healed another lame man in Lydda (cf. Acts 3:6-8; Luke 5:17-26). [1] Aeneas is a Greek name. He was probably a Hellenistic Jew. We do not know if he was a Christian. The fact that Luke called him a Prayer of Manasseh , but referred to Tabitha as a disciple ( Acts 9:36), may imply that he was not a believer.

Context Summary

Acts 9:32-43 - Strength And Life Through Christ
Peter was now free for a visit of apostolic inspection, of which the two incidents here preserved are the only record. Lydda was a village on the great plain, abutting on the seaboard. The effect of the miracle of healing wrought upon Æneas was profound. A general conversion of the agricultural population was the immediate result. They all turned to the Lord. The villagers had probably been prepared by the tidings of what had taken place, and a single spark sufficed to set the whole country in a blaze.
The little church at Joppa had sustained a serious loss in the death of one of its chief workers, a woman named Dorcas, Acts 9:36-37. She is described as a certain disciple. She had learned of Jesus Christ the great lesson that the love of God implies ministry to others, and she gave herself to practice it by quiet, feminine handiwork, which she distributed among the desolate and friendless women of the town. Peter's prayer in the chamber of death was answered, and Dorcas was given back to her friends. Our Lord put His seal upon her work, and she has been crowned as the patron saint of women workers. [source]

Chapter Summary: Acts 9

1  Saul, going toward Damascus, is stricken down to the earth,
8  and led blind to Damascus;
10  is called to the apostleship;
18  and is baptized by Ananias
20  He preaches Christ boldly
23  The Jews lay wait to kill him;
29  so do the Grecians, but he escapes both
31  The church having rest, Peter heals Aeneas;
36  and restores Tabitha to life

Greek Commentary for Acts 9:33

Aenias [Ainean)]
Old Greek name and so probably a Hellenistic Jew. He was apparently a disciple already (the saint, Acts 9:32). Luke the physician notes that he had been bed ridden for eight years. See note on Acts 5:15 for “bed” (krabattou) and Acts 8:7; Luke 5:18 for “paralyzed” (paralelumenos perfect passive participle of paraluō with ēn periphrastic past perfect passive). [source]
Eight years []
The duration of the malady, and the fact of his having been bedridden for the whole time, are characteristic of the physician's narrative. [source]
Bed []
See on Mark 2:4. [source]
Sick of the palsy []
Better, as Rev., palsied. See on Luke 5:18. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 9:33

Luke 5:18 Taken with a palsy [παραλελυμένος]
Rev., more neatly, palsied. Whenever Luke mentions this disease, he uses the verb and not the adjective παραλυτικός paralytic (as Matthew 4:24; Matthew 8:6; Mark 2:3-10; compare Acts 8:7; Acts 9:33); his usage in this respect being in strict accord with that of medical writers. [source]
Luke 5:19 Couch [κλινιδίῳ]
Luke uses four words for the beds o£ the sick: κλίνη , as Luke 5:18, the general word for a bed or couch; κράββατος , (Acts 5:15; Acts 9:33), a rude pallet (see on Mark 2:4); κλινίδιον , a small couch or litter, as here, a couch so light that a woman could lift and carry it away. Thus, in the “Lysistrata” of Aristophanes, 916, Myrrine says: “Come now, let me carry our couch” ( κλινίδιον )The fourth term, κλινάριον (Acts 5:15), cannot be accurately distinguished from the last. The last two are peculiar to Luke. [source]
John 5:8 Bed [κράββατον]
Used by both Mark and Luke. See on Mark 2:4, and compare Acts 5:15; Acts 9:33. [source]
John 5:8 Arise, take up thy bed, and walk [Εγειρε αρον τον κραβαττον σου και περιπατει]
Present active imperative of αρον — egeirō a sort of exclamation, like our “Get up.” The first active imperative (αιρω — āron of περιπατεω — airō) means to pick up the pallet, and then “go on walking” (present active imperative of κραβαττον — peripateō). For krabatton (pallet) see Mark 2:2-12; Mark 6:55; Acts 5:15; Acts 9:33. [source]
Galatians 1:15 From my mother's womb [ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου]
Before I was born. Others, from the time of my birth. A few passages in lxx. go to sustain the former view: Isaiah 64:2,24; 66:1,5. That view is also favored by those instances in which a child's destiny is clearly fixed by God before birth, as Samson, Judges href="/desk/?q=jud+16:17&sr=1">Judges 16:17; comp. Judges 13:5, Judges 13:7; John the Baptist, Luke 1:15. See also Matthew 19:12. The usage of ἐκ as marking a temporal starting point is familiar. See John 6:66; John 9:1; Acts 9:33; Acts 24:10. [source]

What do the individual words in Acts 9:33 mean?

He found then there a man certain named Aeneas for years eight lying on a bed who was paralyzed
εὗρεν δὲ ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπόν τινα ὀνόματι Αἰνέαν ἐξ ἐτῶν ὀκτὼ κατακείμενον ἐπὶ κραβάττου ὃς ἦν παραλελυμένος

εὗρεν  He  found 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εὑρίσκω  
Sense: to come upon, hit upon, to meet with.
ἄνθρωπόν  a  man 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: ἄνθρωπος  
Sense: a human being, whether male or female.
τινα  certain 
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: τὶς  
Sense: a certain, a certain one.
ὀνόματι  named 
Parse: Noun, Dative Neuter Singular
Root: ὄνομα  
Sense: name: univ.
Αἰνέαν  Aeneas 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: Αἰνέας  
Sense: the name of a paralytic cured by Peter at Lydia.
ἐτῶν  years 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: ἔτος  
Sense: year.
ὀκτὼ  eight 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: ὀκτώ  
Sense: eight.
κατακείμενον  lying 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle or Passive, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: κατάκειμαι  
Sense: to have lain down, i.e. to lie prostrate.
κραβάττου  a  bed 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: κράβαττος 
Sense: a pallet, camp bed (a rather simple bed holding only one person).
παραλελυμένος  paralyzed 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Participle Middle or Passive, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: παραλύω  
Sense: to loose on one side or from the side.