And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they returned home again.

ACTS 21:6KJV
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Acts 21:6 (KJV)

What does Acts 21:6 mean?

Acts 21:6 describes the parting of Paul’s traveling group from the people who had accompanied them to the shore. The travelers boarded a ship to continue their journey, while the others went back to their own homes.

The narrator says “we,” placing himself among the travelers. After the group knelt and prayed together in verse 5, “taken our leave” pictures the personal farewells that came before they separated.

The Greek behind Acts 21:6

  • “taken our leave” — ἀσπάζομαι (aspazomai): The word can mean to greet or to say farewell. Here the Greek carries the sense of people exchanging farewells, not simply departing.
  • “home” — ἴδιος (idios): The word carries the sense of one’s own. Here it points to the homes belonging to the people who had come to see the travelers off.

Why Acts 21:6 matters

  • The farewell includes more than Paul and a few friends. Verse 5 says that the believers, along with their wives and children, accompanied the travelers outside the city.
  • The word “they” marks a change of group within the sentence. “We” refers to those who boarded the ship, while “they” refers to those who returned home.

Where else these words appear

“took” Greek G1910 · used in 6 verses

  • Matthew 21:5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
  • Acts 20:18 And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
  • Acts 25:1 Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem.

“returned” Greek G5290 · used in 35 verses

  • Mark 14:40 And when he returned, he found them asleep again,(for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him.
  • Luke 9:10 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
  • Acts 1:12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

“leave” Greek G782 · used in 49 verses

  • Matthew 5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
  • Romans 16:9 Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.
  • Philippians 4:22 All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.

“ship” Greek G4143 · used in 64 verses

  • Matthew 4:21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
  • Mark 6:32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.
  • Acts 20:38 Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.