Since Ye Believed
Paul asks what the disciples at Ephesus had received from the time they believed; “since” is the English of the Greek and of every English Bible before the KJV.
Modern versions: “when you believed” (ESV, NIV, NASB, RSV)
Paul’s question at Ephesus is “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” (Acts 19:2). Pisteusantes is an aorist participle, “having believed”: the believing is the point from which Paul asks. In the KJV’s English, “since” means exactly that. Webster’s first sense in 1828: “After; from the time that,” with the KJV’s own examples: “The Lord hath blessed thee since my coming” (Genesis 30:30).
The KJV kept the word of the English Bibles before it. Tyndale: “have ye receaved the holy gost sence ye beleved?” The Geneva Bible: “Haue ye receiued the holy Ghost since ye beleeued?” Gill reads it the same way: “since ye believed? that is, in Christ.”
The answer shows why Paul asked. These disciples knew only “John’s baptism” (Acts 19:3); when Paul preached Christ to them, “they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,” and “the Holy Ghost came on them” (Acts 19:5–6). “Since” and “when” point to the same moment of believing; the KJV’s word keeps the Greek’s order of events, believing first.
Where the King James Bible Has It
Sources
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and sayd vnto them: have ye receaved the holy gost sence ye beleved?
Checked against: Wikisource, 2026-10-20 -
And saide vnto them, Haue ye receiued the holy Ghost since ye beleeued?
Checked against: Wikisource, 2026-10-20 -
Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), “Since”
After; from the time that. The proper signification of since is after.
Checked against: webstersdictionary1828.com, 2026-10-20 -
Since ye believed? that is, in Christ; which is taking it for granted, that they had received the special grace of the Spirit of God.
Checked against: Internet Archive scan of the first edition, 2026-10-23
