Acts 20:34

Ye yourselves (autoi). Intensive pronoun. Certainly they knew that the church in Ephesus had not supported Paul while there. These hands (ai ceire autai). Paul was not above manual labour. He pointed to his hands with pride as proof that he toiled at his trade of tent-making as at Thessalonica and Corinth for his own needs (creiai) and for those with him (probably Aquila and Priscilla) with whom he lived and probably Timothy because of his often infirmities ( 1 Timothy 5:23 ). Ministered (uphrethsan). First aorist active of uphretew, to act as under rower, old verb, but in the N.T. only in Acts 13:36 ; Acts 20:34 ; Acts 24:23 . While in Ephesus Paul wrote to Corinth: "We toil, working with our own hands" ( 1 Corinthians 4:12 ). "As he held them up, they saw a tongue of truth in every seam that marked them" (Furneaux).