Acts 17:20:13Acts.17.20.W13TAB
θέλει
thelei
“wants”
- Transliteration
- THE-lei
- Extended
- THEH-lei
- IPA
- /ˈtʰe.lei/
Meaning by language
- English
- wants
Greek · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Theta | th — as in thin | |
| Epsilon | e — as in met (short) | |
| Lambda | l — as in law | |
| Epsilon | e — as in met (short) | |
| Iota | i — as in machine |
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The word
Word in context
- word
THE-lei
- sentence
kse-NI-zon-ta GAR ti-NA eis-PHE-reis eis tas a-ko-AS hê-MON bou-LO-me-tha OUN GNÔ-nai TI-na THE-lei TAU-ta EI-nai
Exegesis
The object of gnōnai is the clause tina thelei tauta einai {τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι | tína thélei taûta eînai}, where tina is an interrogative pronoun ‘what things’, and the construction ‘what these things want to be’ is an idiomatic way of asking ‘what these things mean’ or ‘amount to’.
Thelei {θέλει | thélei} thus carries the nuance of ‘intend’ or ‘signify’, and tauta {ταῦτα | taûta} points back to the “strange things” already mentioned. In translation, the idioms ‘into our ears’ and ‘what these things want to be’ are rendered with more natural English equivalents, while still preserving the causal connection (for/therefore) and the communal desire for understanding.
In context — Acts 17:20
For you are bringing certain strange things to our ears ; therefore we wish to know what these things mean .
About this coordinate
Acts 17:20:13 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 13 of Acts 17:20, so the Greek word θέλει (thelei) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written Acts.17.20.W13, which extends further down to each syllable (Acts.17.20.W13.S1) and character.