Acts 20:34

You yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Paul addresses the Ephesian elders at Miletus during his farewell address, immediately following his declaration that he coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothing. He speaks to them as direct witnesses to his daily conduct among them.

The words — αὐτοὶ γινώσκετε (autoi ginōskete) translates literally as "you yourselves know," stressing the elders' firsthand observation. χρεῖαις (chreiais) means "needs," specifying the material necessities he covered through his labor rather than receiving support.

The thread — This practice of self-support runs through Acts 18:3, where Paul works as a tentmaker, and 2 Thessalonians 3:8, where he labored night and day to avoid eating anyone’s food without paying. He echoes the same principle in 1 Corinthians 4:12 by stating he works hard with his own hands.

Why it lands — The text establishes financial self-sufficiency as a factual record of Paul’s ministry, not a theoretical ideal. It requires readers to measure their own service against a documented standard of labor that meets personal and communal needs without demanding external provision.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

αὐτοὶautoiYou yourselves δὲdenow γινώσκετεginōsketeknow ὅτιhotithat ταῖςtaisto the χρείαιςchreiaisneeds μουmouof me καὶkaiand τοῖςtoisto that [of those]οὖσινousinbeing μετ᾽met᾽with ἐμοῦemoume ὑπηρέτησανhupēretēsanministered to αἱhai<the>χεῖρεςcheireshands αὗται.hautaithese.

King James Version

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

Cross-references

Acts 18:3 and he stayed and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just as he was.
1 Corinthians 4:12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
2 Thessalonians 3:8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
Acts 19:22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed for a time in the province of Asia.
1 Thessalonians 2:9 Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.