Acts 21:6

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

After saying goodbye to each other, we went on board the ship, and they returned home again.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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ὑπέστρεψαν

hypostréphō

G5290

“to turn back”

Verb, Aorist, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Plural

Appears 36× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Mark 14:40

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from G5259 and G4762

TDNT: None

1. to turn back a. to turn about 2. to return

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

13: words
11: distinct lemmas
Acts: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

ὑπέστρεψαν to turn back G5290 occurs in 36 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

Words recur within this verse:

εἰς into G1519 ×2
τὸ the G3588 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Acts 21:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

John 19:27 Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.
John 1:11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn't receive him.
John 7:53 Everyone went to his own house,
John 16:32 Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
2 Corinthians 2:13 I had no relief for my spirit, because I didn't find Titus, my brother, but taking my leave of them, I went out into Macedonia.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Acts 21:6 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

Act 21:6. Ἀσπασάμενοι having mutually taken leave) With this word are connected both ἀνέβημεν. we embarked, and ὑπέστρεψαν, they returned.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Expositor's Greek Testament

ed. W. Robertson Nicoll

Act 21:6 . R.V. ἀπησπασάμεθα ἀλλ . “bade each other farewell,” see critical note. ἀπασπάζομαι : only here in N.T., in Tobit 10:13 ( [351] [352] al [353] ); Himerius, p. 194; here of salutations at departure as simple verb in Act 21:7 , of salutations on arrival ( 1Ma 12:17 ). τὸ πλοῖον : article indicates that it was the same ship (Act 21:2 without the article) which was going on to Ptolemais. εἰς τὰ ἴδια , cf. Joh 16:32 ; Joh 19:27 , cf. [354] text Act 5:18 , Act 14:18 ( τὰ ἴδια not in Synoptists, but cf. Luk 18:28 ), in LXX, Est 5:10 ; Est 6:12 , 3Ma 6:27 ; 3Ma 6:37 ; 3Ma 7:8 .

[351] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[352] Codex Cryptoferratensis (sæc. vii.), a palimpsest fragment containing chap. Act 11:9-19 , edited by Cozza in 1867, and cited by Tischendorf.

[353] Alford’s Greek Testament .

[354] R(omana), in Blass, a first rough copy of St. Luke.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 6. Taken - leave] ασπασαμενοι; Having given each other the kiss of peace, as was the constant custom of the Jews and primitive Christians.

They returned home] That is, the men, their wives, and their children.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) We took ship.—Literally, we embarked in the ship. The article probably, though not necessarily, indicates that they went in the same ship that had brought them, and which, after discharging her cargo at Tyre, was now bound for Cæsarea.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

6. The best text requires here for the last clause, “and we went on board the ship, but they returned home again.” There is nothing in the Greek to tell us whether the ship was the same in which they had come, or not.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And when we had taken our leave one of another,.... The Alexandrian copy reads, "having prayed, we saluted one another"; with a kiss, as in Act 20:37 and so parted:

we took ship; or went aboard the ship,

and they returned home again; to their own houses, as the Syriac version renders it; for by "their own", as it is in the Greek text, cannot be meant their families, their wives, and children, for these were along with them, but their habitations; see Joh 16:32.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

6 And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they returned home again.

Ver. 6. We took ship] Leaving them on shore: we shall one day meet, and never more be separated. O dieculam illam, &c. Euge, Deo sit laus et gloria, quod iam instet horula illa gratissima, {a} O that day! O that joy! Castigemus mores et moras. (Bernard.) Let us ripen apace, and hasten to that heavenly home, that glorious panegyris and general assembly, Heb 12:23.

{a} Greserus moribundus. Melch. Adam.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Had taken our leave one of another; as Act 20:1, embracing one another at their parting.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

And bade each other farewell; and we went on board the ship, but, etc., for and when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and, etc., A.V. and T.R. The ajpaspazesqai of the R.T. occurs nowhere else, except in Himerius in the fourth century after Christ. Went on board; ejpebhmev eijv, the same phrase as ejpibainein eijv JIerousalhm in ver. 5.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

McGarvey & Pendleton's Commentaries

J. W. McGarvey

See notes on verse 5

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

6. καὶ ἐνέβημεν εἰς τὸ πλοῖον, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς τὰ ἴδια, and we went on board the ship, but they returned home again. There is nothing in the Greek to tell us whether the ship was the same in which they had come to Tyre, or not.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

Marvin R. Vincent

Taken leave. See on ch. Act 20:1.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Acts, in the Acts, opens this verse with 13 words (11 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is hypostréphō (“to turn back”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word hypostréphō carries the sense “to turn back.” How does it shape the verse?
Mark 14:40 shares the word «to turn back» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“into” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
Reading how Bengel's Gnomon and Expositor's Greek Testament read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 22 words in this verse.
“into” occurs 2× in this single verse.
11 distinct Greek lemmas span 13 words in this verse.