Acts 20 · Verse 34

Acts 20:34

Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
Acts 20:34, King James Version

Acts 20:34 in other translations

BSBYou yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions.
WEBYou yourselves know that these hands served my necessities, and those who were with me.
ASVYe yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.
YLTand ye yourselves know that to my necessities, and to those who were with me, minister did these hands;
DARBYYourselves know that these hands have ministered to my wants, and to those who were with me.
BBEYou yourselves have seen that with these hands I got what was necessary for me and those who were with me.
WebsterAnd ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered to my necessities, and to them that were with me.

What does Acts 20:34 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 20:32-35

32-35. I commend you to God--the almighty Conservator of His people. and to the word of his grace--that message of His pure grace (Ac 20:24) by the faith of which He keeps us (1Pe 1:5). which--that is, God. is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance, &c.--Observe how salvation--not only in its initial stages of pardon and regeneration, but in all its subsequent stages of "up-building," even to its…

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Barnes' Notes
Verse 34. Yea, ye yourselves know. By your own acquaintance with my manner of life. In Corinth he had lived and laboured with Apollos, Acts 18:3; and he refers elsewhere to the fact that he had supported himself, in part at least, by his own labour, 1Cor 4:12 1Thes 2:9, 2Thes 3:8. We may hence learn that it is no discredit to a minister to labour. Whatever it may be to a people who put him under a necessity to toil for his support, yet the example of Paul shows that a man should rejoice in the privilege of preaching the gospel, even if it is done while he is obliged to resort to labour for his daily bread. It is well when a minister of the gospel can make an appeal to his people like this of Paul, and say, "I have coveted no man's gold, or silver, or apparel." Every minister should so live that he can make this appeal to their own consciences of the sincerity and disinterestedness of his labours from the pulpit; or when called to separate from them as Paul did; or when on a dying bed. Every minister of the gospel, when he comes to lie down to die, will desire to be able to make this appeal, and to leave a solemn testimony there, that it was not for gold, or ease, or fame, that he toiled in the ministerial office. How much more influence can such a man have, than he who has been worldly-minded; who has sought to become rich; and the only memorials of whose life is, that he has sought "the fleece, not the flock," and that he has gained the property, not the souls of men. And every Christian, when he dies, should and will desire to leave a testimony as pure, that he has been disinterested, self-denying, and laborious in the cause of Jesus the Lord.

(d) "yourselves know" Acts 18:3, 1Cor 4:12, 1Thes 2:9, 2Thes 3:8

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 34 These hands have ministered, etc. - It was neither "sin nor discredit" for the apostle to work to maintain himself, when the circumstances of the Church were such that it could not support him. Still many eminent ministers of God are obliged to support themselves and their families, at least in part, in the same way, while indefatigably testifying the Gospel of the grace of God. Whatever it may be to the people, it is no cause of reproach to the minister, to be obliged thus to employ himself.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Acts 20:28-38

If the Holy Ghost has made ministers overseers of the flock, that is, shepherds, they must be true to their trust. Let them consider their Master's concern for the flock committed to their charge. It is the church He has purchased with his own blood. The blood was his as Man; yet so close is the union between the Divine and human nature, that it is there called the blood of God, for it was the blood of Him who is…

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Acts 20:34 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

αὐτοὶautoiYou yourselvesG846
γινώσκετεginōsketeknowG1097
ὅτιhotithatG3754
ταῖςtaisto theG3588
χρείαιςchreiaisneedsG5532
μουmouof meG3165
καὶkaiandG2532
τοῖςtoisto that [of those]G3588
οὖσινousinbeingG1510
μετ᾽met᾽withG3326
ἐμοῦemoumeG1473
ὑπηρέτησανhupēretēsanministered toG5256
αἱhai<the>G3588
χεῖρεςcheireshandsG5495
αὗται.hautaithese.G3778

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Acts 20:34

  • Acts 18:3

    And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

  • 1 Corinthians 4:12

    And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

  • 2 Thessalonians 3:8-9

    Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.

  • Acts 19:22

    So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.

  • 1 Thessalonians 2:9

    For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
that these.
18:3; 1Co 4:12; 1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8,9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Acts 20:33

    I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.

  • Acts 20:34

    Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.

  • Acts 20:35

    I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Read all of Acts 20

Acts 20:34 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Antes vosotros sabéis que para lo que me ha sido necesario, y á los que están conmigo, estas manos me han servido.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Vous savez vous-mêmes que ces mains ont été employées pour mes besoins et pour les personnes qui étaient avec moi.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ihr selbst wisset, daß meinen Bedürfnissen und denen, die bei mir waren, diese Hände gedient haben.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		ipsi scitis: quoniam ad ea quæ mihi opus erant, et his qui mecum sunt, ministraverunt manus istæ.