Bible Strands
Acts 20:9
And a certain young man named Eutychus, seated in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up dead.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul speaks to a gathered group in an upper room illuminated by many lamps while continuing his extended discourse. The moment occurs late at night when the prolonged teaching causes a listener to lose consciousness.
The words — καθεζόμενος (kathezomenos) literally means "sitting" and records Eutychus's posture before sleep overtook him. νεανίας (neanias) literally identifies him as a "young man" of adult age.
The thread — The narrative of fatigue from spiritual vigilance parallels the disciples falling asleep in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:40) and Jesus' warning against unpreparedness in Mark 13:36. The sudden loss of control also mirrors the sailors' crisis and cargo throwing in Jonah 1:5.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge that prolonged spiritual engagement produces physical collapse, demanding immediate practical intervention rather than abstract reflection. It instructs communities to address human limitation with direct, life-preserving action.
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
King James Version
And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.
Cross-references
- Mark 13:36 Otherwise, he may arrive without notice and find you sleeping.
- Matthew 26:40 Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter.
- Jonah 1:5 The sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the ship’s cargo into the sea to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down to the lowest part of the vessel, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
- Mark 9:26 After shrieking and convulsing him violently, the spirit came out. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He is dead.”
- 1 Kings 17:19 But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
- Acts 14:19 Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.