Tag Archives: Acts 12:3

Καὶ ἰδὼν ὅτι ἀρεστόν ἐστιν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις προσέθετο συλλαβεῖν καὶ Πέτρον ἦσαν δὲ ἡμέραι τῶν ἀζύμων (Acts 12:3)

And seeing that it is pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded to seize also Petros; now there were days of Unleavened Bread.

Living Greek Flow

The sentence begins with καὶ ἰδὼν. Again, Greek starts with perception before action. The man does not act blindly. He sees, evaluates, and only then proceeds. This is crucial. Greek often encodes thought processes inside participles. The participle ἰδὼν does not simply mean “after seeing.” It places the entire decision inside an act of perception. The action that follows grows out of what is seen.… Learn Koine Greek