Therefore I beg you to take some food, for this is for your safety; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads.”
Parallel translations
- KJV Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.
- BSB So for your own preservation, I urge you to eat something, because not a single hair of your head will be lost.”
- NKJV Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.”
- NASB Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your survival, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.”
- NLT “Please eat something now for your own good. For not a hair of your heads will perish.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul presses them to eat for their survival, assuring them not a hair of their heads will perish.
Overview
Repeating God's promise of total safety in a vivid idiom, Paul links it to the practical act of eating. His assurance rests on God's word, and his urging shows faith expressed through sensible action. The phrase echoes biblical language of God's protective care over those He preserves.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Matt 10:30but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
- 1 Kgs 1:52Solomon said, “If he shows himself a worthy man, not a hair of his shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.”
- Luke 21:18And not a hair of your head will perish.
- Mark 8:2–3“I have compassion on the multitude, because they have stayed with me now three days, and have nothing to eat.
- Luke 12:7But the very hairs of your head are all counted. Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.
- 1 Tim 5:23Be no longer a drinker of water only, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.
- Matt 15:32Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away fasting, or they might faint on the way.”
- Phil 2:5Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 27:34 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.