And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

ACTS 11:28KJV
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Acts 11:28 (KJV)

What does Acts 11:28 mean?

Acts 11:28 describes Agabus warning that a severe food shortage was coming across a vast region. The verse presents his warning as coming through the Spirit and adds that the shortage occurred during the reign of Claudius Caesar.

Agabus was one of the people who had come from Jerusalem to Antioch, as the preceding verse explains. He stood up and made the warning known to the people gathered there. The note about Claudius places the shortage during the rule of a Roman emperor.

The Greek behind Acts 11:28

  • “signified” — σημαίνω (sēmainō): This word carries the sense of making something known or indicating it. Here Agabus communicates a warning about an event still to come.
  • “dearth” — λιμός (limos): This means a famine or severe shortage of food. “Dearth” is an older English word that can be unfamiliar to modern readers.
  • “world” — οἰκουμένη (oikoumenē): This word refers to the inhabited world and can describe lands under Roman rule. In this setting, “all the world” need not mean every place on the globe.

Why Acts 11:28 matters

  • The verse links the warning to the Spirit. The phrase “by the Spirit” presents Agabus’s message as more than his own forecast.
  • The warning leads to help for a particular group of people. In the following verse, the believers in Antioch decide to send relief to those living in Judea.
  • The account connects the warning with a later event. “Which came to pass” tells the reader that the food shortage did occur, though the verse does not give an exact year.

Where else these words appear

“Agabus” Greek G13 · used in 2 verses

  • Acts 21:10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.

“Claudius” Greek G2804 · used in 3 verses

  • Acts 18:2 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla;(because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.
  • Acts 23:26 Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting.

“signified” Greek G4591 · used in 6 verses

  • John 12:33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
  • John 18:32 That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.
  • Acts 25:27 For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

“dearth” Greek G3042 · used in 12 verses

  • Matthew 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
  • Luke 15:14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
  • Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?