One accord (3661) (homothumadon/homothymadon from a combination of homos = same + thumos/thymos = temperament or mind) means with one mind, unity of mind, with one purpose, with unanimous consent, of one accord. In a word it means together (Webster says "together" means "in company, in union, in the same place, in the same time, in concert, as the allies made war upon France together.") One lexicon says homothumadon means "to be of one soul." It speaks of an action agreed upon unanimously (with one impulse) or by common consent. Homothumadon was frequently used in secular settings to describe the unanimity of a synod, of creditors, of a husband and wife, of brother (TLNT, Moulton and Milligan) Webster defines unanimity as "Agreement of a number of persons in opinion or determination; as, there was perfect unanimity among the members of the council." Webster defines accord as "1. Agreement; harmony of minds; consent or concurrence of opinions or wills. 2. Concert; harmony of sounds; the union of different sounds, which is agreeable to the ear; agreement in pitch and tone; as the accord of notes; but in this sense, it is more usual to employ concord or chord. NIDNTT - homothymadon is compounded of homo-, together and thymos (derived from thyo,rage, seethe), the principle of life, feeling and thought. homothymadon thus means unanimous, but is later weakened to mean together. It is first found in the 5th and 4th cent. B.C. (Aristophanes, Plato, Demosthenes) and in the political sphere is used especially for the visible, inner unity of a group faced by a common duty or danger. The unanimity is not based on common personal feelings but on a cause greater than the individual. Was it not the essence of homothumadon for which Jesus prayed - “And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one." (John 17:22) TDNT notes that homothumadon "denotes the unity of a group and may be translated “with one mind.” It often occurs with words denoting number (eg, "all" in Acts 1:14) and place (Acts 2:1). The thymos (thumos) may be anger, fear, or gratitude, but the most common use later is political (cf Acts 15:25) or, in Judaism, religious. The term denotes common interest rather than personal feeling and expresses reaction to some outside event. In the NT it stresses inner unanimity in response to teaching (Acts 8:6) or in prayer (Acts 1:14). Tensions exist, but unanimity is achieved in the magnifying of the one Lord (Ro 15:6) It is a response to God's action for the community and the world (cf. Acts 1:4, 4:24). It is thus a gift of God to the praise of God. (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., and Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans) Ray Pritchard - The word is homothumadon, which the King James translates with the lovely phrase “in one accord.” It’s a musical term that means to strike the same notes together (Ed: More accurately it is the word "accord" which is the meaning of homothumadon which is a musical term. But Pritchard's application is still appropriate.). We all know what it is to listen to a choir sing and the music is lovely and lilting and then without warning, someone hits a wrong note. The discordant sound sticks out like a sore thumb. When the early church prayed, there were no “wrong notes"—no ugly attitudes, no pointing fingers, no pity parties, no gossipy stories, no secrets told behind closed doors. When people don’t like each other, they can’t pray together very long. Either you’ll stop criticizing or you’ll stop praying because you can’t do both at the same time." Lawrence Richards - Homothumadon: One Accord. A unique Greek word, used 10 of its 11 New Testament occurrences in the Book of Acts, helps us understand the uniqueness of Christian community. Homothumadon is a compound of two words meaning to “rush along” (thumos/thymos) and “in unison” (homos). The image is almost musical; a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonize in pitch and tone. As the instruments of a great orchestra blend under the direction of a concertmaster, so the Holy Spirit blends together the lives of members of Christ’s church. (The Teacher's Commentary) You can mark it down that where there is homothumadon among believers, the Holy Spirit is present and active! (Cp Eph 4:4-note, see also Acts 15:25 and Acts 15:28 where being of one mind is associated with the Spirit) And the converse also applies - without the Holy Spirit energizes saints, uniting hearts, there is the potential for discord and disharmony because of our fallen flesh. "Harmonious" saints are surely Spirit filled saints! Theological Lexicon of the New Testament - Homothymadon, which occurs especially in Job (14 times) and in Acts (10 times) and corresponds to the Hebrew yahad, yahdaw, has as least three meanings: (a) “Together,” when said of people, a crowd, a mass of individuals: “They threw themselves all together” upon Steven (Acts 7:57); at the silversmiths’ riot at Ephesus, “They rushed all together to the theater.” As the adverb yahad often means “also, likewise” (cf. Job 6:2; 17:16; 31:38; 34:15), homothymadon expresses simultaneity: “All the people answered at once,” as one person. (b) Conformably to its etymology (homos, “same,” and thymos, “soul” or “heart”), homothymadon designates not only a gathering of persons, but their agreement together, even their unanimity. The authorities at the Jerusalem Council decide: “It seemed good to us, being of one accord, to chose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul.” When approaching someone “together,” whether “to sympathize with him and comfort him,” as when Job’s friends come (Job 2:11), or to offer congratulations (Jdt 15:9), the point is that the feelings of the participants are in harmony. Thus the apostles and the believers are “together” at Solomon’s Portico (Acts 5:12), and thus the Samaritan crowds follow Philip’s preaching (8:6). (c) Homothymadon expresses in a unique way the brotherly communion of believers praying to God. Unity of hearts in one and the same movement is the characteristic of prayer, so much so that the prayer of a “discordant” Christian will not be heard. Homothymadon became a technical term for the unity of the Jerusalemites in calling upon the Lord and for the unity required of all disciples by Ro 15:5—6: they must try to have a common mind (to auto phronein) in Christ, “so that with one heart and one mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This oneness of heart is described as brotherly harmony by 1Pe 3:8—“Finally, be of one mind (homophron - homos = one and same + phren = mind, understanding), sympathetic, brotherly, with motherly tenderness” (pantes homophrones, sympatheis, philadelphoi, eusplanchnoi). As early as Homer, homophrosyne is praised as a virtue, establishing accord and harmony of thoughts and feelings, among fellow-citizens or members of a group, between spouses, especially between brothers. This is precisely the nuance of 1Pet 3:8-note. According to Strabo, “The Lacedaemonians thought it difficult to face the Parthians head on, because of their numbers, their perfect harmony, and the fact that they regarded each other as brothers” (pantes homophronas, hos an allelon adelphous nomizomenous, 6.3.3). In a funerary epigram for the two brothers Letoios and Paulos: “Farewell, two brothers with one heart (o glykero kai homophrone)! On your tomb there should be erected an altar to Concord (bomos Homophrosynes).” Philo thought that Moses in his legislation envisaged “agreement, community feeling, concord (homophrosyne), a balance of temperaments, all that could bring homes and cities, peoples and countries, and the whole human race to supreme happiness” (Virtues 119). Christian harmony will be more intimate and more binding: “that they may be one” (hina osin hen, John 17:22). Homothumadon is found 11 of 12 times in Acts, five times describing the mindset of the early church, a thought the modern church needs to ponder (study the uses in Acts 2:46, 4:24, 5:12, 8:6, 15:25) NAS translates homothumadon as one accord (7), one impulse (1), one mind (3). Acts 1:14 These all with one mind were continually devoting (proskartereo) themselves to prayer (Ed: A "concert of voices" to God), along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. Comment: A veritable spiritual concert of prayer! Lawrence Richards - The first use of homothumadon is found in Acts 1:14. There, in the Upper Room, the 11 disciples and a few women were united in prayer. Earlier strife and jealousies that marred their relationships were gone; the disciples were one, waiting for the Spirit’s promised coming. (Ibid) David Peterson - Luke’s description of the activity of the apostles and those with them at this stage (they all joined together constantly in prayer) is quite emphatic in Greek (houtoi pantes esan proskarterountes homothymadon te proseuche). As they continually devoted themselves to prayer, they did so together (homothymadon), as a fellowship of like-minded believers. (Pillar NT Commentary) (Bolding added) Acts 2:46 And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, E D Schmitz - When the local church lives and works homothymadon, it is living and working in harmony with its origin (Ed: Christ is our unifying Head - Cp Col 2:19-note remove the "not" from this passage and it describes what saints should be doing - "and not holding fast to the head, from Whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God."). That is why it is repeatedly stressed by Luke. If he plays down almost all the elements that militated against such unanimity in his picture of the primitive church (see Acts 6:1-7.; Acts 15:37-40.; cf. Acts 8:1), it was hardly because he wanted to idealize it. It had its tensions and controversies (cf. 1 and 2 Cor., Gal., Epistles of John). Rather, Luke wanted to show the essential unanimity of the church, an expression of its nature and therefore a pattern for later generations. Its realization is continually offered and promised to it, so that it may carry out its work of witness (Acts 1:8) in a world that rejects the salvation offered to it. The same goal, the unanimous praise of God "with one voice," (en heni stomati), is also envisaged by Paul in Ro. 15:5-6., when he prays to God for the unanimity in service that comes from Christ Jesus and that surmounts all differences in understanding and knowledge. (NIDNTT) Peterson - (Luke) uses the verb found in Acts 2:42 (‘devoted’ = proskartereo) and the adverb employed in Acts 1:14; 4:24; 5:12 (‘together’ = homothymadon) to stress the degree to which they were committed to practical expressions of their common life. Acts 4:24 And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it is Thou who didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them, Comment: It is no surprise that since they prayed together or with one accord, "the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul."! (Acts 4:32) Richards - As those who are Jesus’ own make Him the common focus of their lives and seek to help each other find the Holy Spirit’s freedom in their lives, homothumadon becomes the mark of Christian community. Sometimes we look back on these early chapters of Acts as though they picture a church that has been lost—as though unity and love and the experience of Jesus’ presence are things that cannot really be ours today. Let’s not make this mistake. God’s Spirit is still a present reality. Homothumadon is still possible in today’s shattered and impersonal world. If we look for a reason for emptiness in our own experience, let’s look first to our hesitancy to share ourselves with our brothers and sisters. Or look to our failure to let others pick up the burdens of our lives, and bring them in confident prayer to God. The church, the new community Christ formed, is here today. We are the church. And God, the Spirit, is able to take our 11s, and our 120s and our 3,000s and, as we joyfully focus our shared life on Jesus, to orchestrate our lives to His wondrous “one accord.”...The early church was a dynamic fellowship. It was rooted in faith in Christ, and relationships between Christians were marked by homothumadon, that vital principle of “one accord.” (The Teacher's Commentary) Acts 5:12 And at the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico. Acts 7:57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears, and they rushed upon him with one impulse. Comment: When the Spirit worked in believers in Acts 1:14 and Acts 4:24 there was a "CONCERT OF PRAYER." But when the spirit of this age (Satan and his minions) worked in the non-believers there was a "CONCERT OF ANGER!" NIDNTT - There is thus a double kind of unanimity shown us in Acts, (Acts 1:14, 2:46, 4:24, 5:12, 8:6, 15:25) of the church and of its enemies (Acts 7:57, 12:20, 18:12, 19:29) . The cause is the same, viz. the preaching of Christ as Saviour and Lord. The reaction can be either faith and worship or hatred and rejection. His enemies found themselves united for the first time when they rejected the claims of Christ. Similarly the unanimity of the church was not based on the sharing of the same human or religious feelings and convictions, but on the reality of Christ which had brought together both Jews and Gentiles (Acts 15:11). The unanimity of their enemies stemmed from seeing their religious (Acts 7:56f.; 18:13) and commercial traditions challenged and their wish to maintain them at all costs. Acts 8:6 And the multitudes with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. Acts 12:20 Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king's chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king's country. Acts 15:25 (cp Acts 15:28) it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Acts 18:12 But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, Acts 19:29 And the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia. Romans 15:6 that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Homothumadon - 20v in Septuagint - Ex 19:8; Num 24:24; 27:21; Job 2:11; 3:18; 6:2; 9:32; 16:10; 17:16; 19:12; 21:26; 24:4, 17; 31:38; 34:15; 38:33; 40:13; Jer 5:5; 46:21; Lam 2:8; Ex 19:8 And all the people answered together (Heb = yachdav = together; Lxx = homothumadon) and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD. The consummate purpose of Christian unity is not to please other believers but to please the Lord, both inwardly and outwardly, individually and corporately. It is only when His people are in one accord and worship Him with one voice that they truly and fully glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. With one voice (one mouth) - Paul's desire for the brethren is to be unified in one voice with the ultimate purpose of their unity and mutual acceptance being to glorify or "give a proper opinion" of their heavenly Father (cp Mt 5:16-note 1Co 6:20). Godet eloquently explains that... When one common aspiration reigns in the church, secondary diversities no longer separate hearts; and from the internal communion there results common adoration like pure harmony from a concert of well-tuned instruments. All hearts being melted in one, all mouths become only one. And how so? Because one Being only appears henceforth to all as worthy of being glorified.—It seems obvious to us, since the two words God and Father are joined in Greek by one and the same article, that the complement: of our Lord Jesus Christ, must depend on both. Comp. Eph 1:17-note (“the God of Jesus Christ”); Mt. 27:46 (“my God, my God”); John 20:17 (“my Father and your Father, my God and your God”). The expression: God of Jesus Christ, denotes the relation of complete dependence; and the expression: Father of Jesus Christ, the relation of perfect intimacy. The ideal here described by the apostle, and which is the supreme object of the prayer which he has just formed, verse 5, is therefore that of the union of the entire church, composed of Jews and Gentiles, in the adoration of the God and Father Who has redeemed and sanctified it by Jesus Christ. This union was in a sense His personal work, and the prize of His apostolic labors. How His heart must have leaped, hearing already by the anticipation of faith, the hymn of saved humanity! It is the part of every believer, therefore, to make all the advances and all the sacrifices which love demands in order to work for so magnificent a result. (The Epistle of St Paul to the Romans)