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Acts 2

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The Coming of the Holy Spirit 1–13

1
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ​
2
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. ​
3
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. ​
4
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. ​
5
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. ​
6
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7
And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8
And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
9
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
10
Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
11
Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
12
And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
13
Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. ​

Peter Addresses the Crowd 14–15

14
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: ​
15
For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

Fulfillment of Joel's Prophecy 16–21

16
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; ​
17
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: ​
18
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19
And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. ​

The Resurrection and Exaltation of Jesus 22–36

22
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: ​
23
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: ​
24
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. ​
25
For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: ​
26
Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
27
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. ​
28
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
29
Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. ​
30
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; ​
31
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
32
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. ​
34
For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, ​
35
Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
36
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. ​

Response, Repentance, and Baptism 37–41

37
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? ​
38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. ​
39
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. ​
40
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
41
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. ​

The Fellowship of Believers 42–47

42
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. ​
43
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
44
And all that believed were together, and had all things common; ​
45
And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, ​
47
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Acts 2

Verse 1

the day of Pentecost — Pentekoste means 'fiftieth': the feast fell fifty days after the sheaf of the wave offering (Lev 23:15–16). 'Fully come' (sumpleroo) is literally 'being fulfilled', elsewhere only in Luke 8:23 and 9:51. 'With one accord' (homothumadon) occurs eleven times in Acts, first at 1:14.

Verse 2

a rushing mighty wind — Pnoe, a blowing or breath, is found elsewhere only in Acts 17:25 ('life, and breath'); 'mighty' (biaios) occurs only here. The sound is 'as of' a wind, and no wind is said to blow. It comes 'from heaven' and 'filled all the house where they were sitting'.

Verse 3

cloven tongues like as of fire — 'Cloven' is diamerizo, to divide out, the verb of 'parted his garments' (Matt 27:35) and of v.45, 'parted them to all men'; a flame 'sat upon each of them'. John the Baptist had said, 'he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire' (Matt 3:11). The sign is 'like as of fire'.

Verse 4

filled with the Holy Ghost — Pletho, to fill, the verb of Elisabeth and Zacharias (Luke 1:41, 67) and of Peter at Acts 4:8. 'Tongues' (glossa) are languages: the crowd hears 'every man… in his own language' (v.6). 'Utterance' (apophtheggomai) is the verb used of Peter's address in v.14, 'said'.

Verse 5

devout men — Eulabes, devout, careful in God's service, is the word for Simeon (Luke 2:25) and for those who buried Stephen (Acts 8:2). These are Jews 'dwelling' (katoikeo) at Jerusalem 'out of every nation under heaven'; the nations are listed in vv.9–11. 'Under the whole heaven' is said of nations in Deut 2:25.

Verse 13

full of new wine — Chleuazo, to mock, is elsewhere only at Acts 17:32, where some 'mocked' the resurrection of the dead; gleukos, sweet new wine, occurs only here. Others had been 'amazed, and were in doubt' (v.12). Peter answers in v.15: 'these are not drunken… it is but the third hour of the day'.

Verse 14

Peter, standing up with the eleven — Matthias had been 'numbered with the eleven apostles' (Acts 1:26), so Peter stands with the whole twelve. 'Said' is apophtheggomai, the 'utterance' of v.4: his speech is Spirit-given like the tongues. 'Hearken' (enotizomai), to give ear, occurs only here in the New Testament.

Verse 16

spoken by the prophet Joel — The only place the New Testament names Joel. Peter's 'This is that' explains what the crowd sees and hears by Joel 2:28–32, quoted through v.21. 'Spoken by' is dia, through: the words are God's own, as the next verse has it, 'saith God'.

Verse 17

I will pour out of my Spirit — Ekcheo, to pour out, returns in v.33 as 'shed forth'. Joel's 'afterward' (Joel 2:28) becomes 'in the last days', the age of Heb 1:2, 'in these last days spoken unto us by his Son'. 'All flesh' is seen reaching the Gentiles: 'on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost' (Acts 10:45).

Verse 21

call on the name of the Lord — Joel 2:32, where 'the LORD' is the divine name; Peter will name Jesus as 'Lord' in v.36. To 'call on' (epikaleo) is the act Ananias urges on Saul: 'calling on the name of the Lord' (Acts 22:16). Paul quotes the same words in Rom 10:13, adding 'no difference between the Jew and the Greek' (Rom 10:12).

Verse 22

approved of God — Apodeiknumi, to show forth or demonstrate: God publicly attested him. 'Miracles and wonders and signs' are three words (dunamis, teras, semeion), the three of Heb 2:4. Peter rests on what they saw, 'as ye yourselves also know'; Nicodemus had said, 'no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him' (John 3:2).

Verse 23

determinate counsel and foreknowledge — Horizo, to mark out, with boule, counsel; 'foreknowledge' (prognosis) is elsewhere only in 1 Pet 1:2. The deliverance was in God's plan ('whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done', Acts 4:28), yet the charge stands: 'by wicked hands have crucified and slain'. Compare Gen 50:20.

Verse 24

the pains of death — Odin is a birth pang. 'Loosed' (luo) suits the cords of Ps 18:4–5, 'The sorrows of death compassed me', where the Hebrew chebel means rope as well as pang. 'Holden' is krateo, to hold fast, and 'it was not possible' that death keep him.

Verse 25

I foresaw the Lord always — Peter quotes Ps 16:8, 'I have set the LORD always before me'. 'Foresaw' is proorao, to see beforehand, elsewhere only in Acts 21:29. 'David speaketh concerning him' opens Peter's reading of the psalm: its words about the Holy One not seeing corruption (v.27) are applied to the Christ in vv.29–31.

Verse 27

thou wilt not leave my soul in hell — Ps 16:10. 'Hell' is hades, the place of the dead; 'soul' (psyche) is the person. 'Holy One' is hosios, the devout one; Paul quotes the same verse at Acts 13:35. 'Corruption' (diaphthora) is said of David in Acts 13:36, 'saw corruption', and of Christ in v.31.

Verse 29

the patriarch David — Patriarches is used elsewhere of Abraham (Heb 7:4) and the twelve sons of Jacob (Acts 7:8–9). 'His sepulchre is with us unto this day' agrees with 1 Kings 2:10, 'buried in the city of David', and Neh 3:16. 'Freely' (parrhesia) is plain, open speech; his point is that the psalm cannot have been fulfilled in David.

Verse 30

being a prophet — Peter calls David a prophet, who knew the oath: 'The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David… Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne' (Ps 132:11), given in 2 Sam 7:12–13. 'According to the flesh' is Paul's phrase in Rom 1:3, 'made of the seed of David according to the flesh'.

Verse 33

the right hand of God exalted — The Greek can mean 'by' or 'to' the right hand; Acts 5:31 reads 'exalted with his right hand'. 'The promise of the Holy Ghost' is the 'promise of the Father' (Acts 1:4), and Christ had said the Comforter would not come unless he went away (John 16:7). 'Shed forth' (ekcheo) is the verb of v.17.

Verse 34

The LORD said unto my Lord — Ps 110:1: the first 'LORD' is the divine name, the second (Hebrew adon) is the one David calls 'my Lord'. Christ asks the same question of the Pharisees: 'If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?' (Matt 22:45). Hebrews quotes it of the Son, not the angels (Heb 1:13). David's sepulchre is 'with us' (v.29).

Verse 36

both Lord and Christ — The two titles of the quoted psalms: Kyrios, the 'my Lord' of Ps 110:1 (v.34), and Christos, the Anointed of David's line (vv.30–31). 'Made' (poieo) speaks of what God did for the crucified one, raising and exalting him (vv.32–33). 'All the house of Israel' is addressed as a whole.

Verse 37

pricked in their heart — Katanusso, to pierce, occurs only here in the New Testament. 'What shall we do?' is the question put to John by the people, the publicans and the soldiers (Luke 3:10, 12, 14); the answer is given at once, in v.38. They speak to 'Peter and to the rest of the apostles'.

Verse 38

Repent, and be baptized — Metanoeo, to change the mind, and baptizo, to immerse, 'in the name of Jesus Christ' (cf. Acts 10:48). 'Remission' (aphesis) is release: 'repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name… beginning at Jerusalem' (Luke 24:47). Christians differ on how baptism and forgiveness are joined here; 'the gift' is dorea, as in Acts 10:45.

Verse 39

the promise is unto you, and to your children — The covenant wording of Gen 17:7, 'thy seed after thee'. 'Afar off' is makran, the word of Luke 15:20, 'a great way off'; Paul says of the Gentiles, 'ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ' (Eph 2:13). 'As many as the Lord our God shall call' echoes Joel 2:32, 'the remnant whom the LORD shall call'.

Verse 41

gladly received his word — Asmenos, gladly, occurs elsewhere only in Acts 21:17. They were baptized, as the command of v.38 required. 'Added' (prostithemi) is the verb of v.47, where the Lord is the one who adds; 'souls' (psyche) are persons. The count later stands at 'about five thousand' men (Acts 4:4).

Verse 42

continued stedfastly — Proskartereo, to persevere, is the verb of Acts 1:14 and of 'continuing daily' in v.46. Four things are named: 'the apostles' doctrine', 'fellowship' (koinonia, partnership), 'breaking of bread' (as in Acts 20:7) and 'prayers'. Fellowship is, in John's words, 'with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ' (1 John 1:3).

Verse 44

had all things common — Koinos, shared, of the same root as koinonia, the 'fellowship' of v.42. 'Together' is epi to auto, in the same place and purpose. Acts 4:32 says the same: 'neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own'. Verse 45 gives the means, selling and 'parting' to all as each had need.

Verse 46

singleness of heart — Aphelotes, simplicity, occurs only here. 'Continuing daily' is proskartereo again (v.42); they met 'in the temple' and, literally, 'at home', 'breaking bread' (the act of v.42). Acts 5:42 gives the same pairing: 'daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ'.

Verse 47

the Lord added to the church daily — 'Added' (prostithemi) is the verb of v.41, now with the Lord as the one adding. This is the first use of 'church' (ekklesia) in Acts; the next is Acts 5:11. 'Such as should be saved' is a present participle, 'those being saved', the 'saved' of v.21. 'Favour' is charis, grace.