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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 now come, they were all together in one place. ​
2
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. ​
3
And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. ​
4
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. ​
5
Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. ​
6
And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language.
7
And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying, Behold, are not all these that speak Galilæans?
8
And how hear we, every man in our own language wherein we were born?
9
Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judæa and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia,
10
in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and sojourners from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
11
Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our tongues the mighty works of God.
12
And they were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
13
But others mocking said, They are filled with new wine. ​

Peter Addresses the Crowd 14–15

14
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spake forth unto them, saying, Ye men of Judæa, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and give ear unto 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 hath been spoken through the prophet Joel: ​
17
And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth 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
Yea and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
19
And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:
20
The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the day of the Lord come, That great and notable day:
21
And it shall be, 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 unto you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, even as ye yourselves know; ​
23
him, being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay: ​
24
whom God raised up, having loosed the pangs of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. ​
25
For David saith concerning him, I beheld the Lord always before my face; For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: ​
26
Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; Moreover my flesh also shall dwell in hope:
27
Because thou wilt not leave my soul unto Hades, Neither wilt thou give thy Holy One to see corruption. ​
28
Thou madest known unto me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of gladness with thy countenance.
29
Brethren, I may say unto you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us unto this day. ​
30
Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins he would set one upon his throne; ​
31
he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
32
This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33
Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear. ​
34
For David ascended not into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, ​
35
Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet.
36
Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified. ​

Response, Repentance, and Baptism 37–41

37
Now when they heardthis, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? ​
38
And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ​
39
For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him. ​
40
And with many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation.
41
They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls. ​

The Fellowship of Believers 42–47

42
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. ​
43
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44
And all that believed were together, and had all things common; ​
45
and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need.
46
And day by day, continuing stedfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, ​
47
praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · 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 — This is 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 — This is 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 — This is Ps 110:1, where the first 'LORD' is the divine name and 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 — These are the covenant words 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.