---
title: Acts 20:17
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/acts-20-17/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/acts-20-17.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Acts 20:17
testament: NT
section: Acts
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Acts 20:17

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.

## JW Usage

JWs acknowledge that Paul summoned the "older men" (elders) of the Ephesian congregation (Acts 20:17) and that the NT uses plural eldership. However, the Watchtower reads the overall pattern as supporting a centralised hierarchy: Governing Body at the top, branch offices, circuit overseers, and local elder bodies flowing from a central authority. The door-to-door method is also traced to Acts 20:20, where Paul taught "publicly and from house to house."

## Protestant Usage

Paul summons "the older men of the congregation" (Acts 20:17) — note the plural. He charges them collectively: "pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed you overseers" (v. 28). The Spirit appoints multiple overseers in one city, not one overseer with authority over multiple cities. This pattern is consistent across every NT reference: Acts 14:23 (elders in every congregation), Titus 1:5 (elders in city after city), 1 Timothy 5:17 (elders who preside), 1 Peter 5:1-4 (Peter calls himself "a fellow elder," not a chief shepherd). There are zero exceptions. As for Acts 20:20, the Greek kat' oikon means "in homes" (house churches), not sequential door-knocking. The NWT itself proves this by translating the identical Greek as "in different homes" at Acts 2:46. Luke 10:7 has Jesus explicitly prohibiting house-to-house movement: "do not keep transferring from house to house."

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Jesus Said 'Do Not Go From House to House'](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/luke10-house-to-house.md) — Luke 10:7 / Acts 5:42 / Acts 20:20 [Practice]
- [Repentance and Faith — The Two-Question Gospel Pivot](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/repentance-faith-gospel.md) — Acts 20:21 / Ephesians 2:8–9 / Acts 16:31 [Salvation]
- [Plural Eldership — The Bible's Distributed Leadership Model](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/plural-eldership.md) — Acts 14:23 / Titus 1:5 / 1 Timothy 5:17 — Elders, never one Elder [Authority]