Acts 1:5

Baptized with water (ebaptisen udati) and with the Holy Ghost (en pneumati baptisqhsesqe agiwi). The margin has "in the Holy Ghost" (Spirit, it should be). The American Standard Version renders "in" both with "water" and "Holy Spirit" as do Goodspeed (American Translation) and Mrs. Montgomery (Centenary Translation). John's own words ( Matthew 3:11 ) to which Jesus apparently refers use en (in) both with water and Spirit. There is a so-called instrumental use of en where we in English have to say "with" ( Revelation 13:10 en macairh, like macairh, Acts 12:2 ). That is to say en with the locative presents the act as located in a certain instrument like a sword (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 589f.). But the instrumental case is more common without en (the locative and instrumental cases having the same form). So it is often a matter of indifference which idiom is used as in John 21:8 we have twi ploiariwi (locative without en). They came in (locative case without en) the boat. So in John 1:31 en udati baptizwn baptizing in water. No distinction therefore can be insisted on here between the construction udati and en pneumati (both being in the locative case, one without, one with en). Note unusual position of the verb baptisqhsesqe (future passive indicative) between pneumati and agiwi. This baptism of the Holy Spirit was predicted by John ( Matthew 3:11 ) as the characteristic of the Messiah's work. Now the Messiah himself in his last message before his Ascension proclaims that in a few days the fulfilment of that prophecy will come to pass. The Codex Bezae adds here "which ye are about to receive" and "until the Pentecost" to verse Matthew 5 . Not many days hence (ou meta polla tauta hmera). A neat Greek idiom difficult to render smoothly into English: "Not after many days these." The litotes (not many=few) is common in Luke ( Luke 7:6 ; Luke 15:13 ; Acts 17:27 ; Acts 19:11 ; Acts 20:12 ; Acts 21:39 ; Acts 28:14 ; Acts 28:2 ). The predicate use of tauta (without article) is to be noted. "These" really means as a starting point, "from these" (Robertson, Grammar, p. 702). It was ten days hence. This idiom occurs several times in Luke ( Luke 24:21 ; Acts 24:21 ), as elsewhere ( John 4:18 ; 2 Peter 3:1 ). In Luke 2:12 the copula is easily supplied as it exists in Luke 1:36 ; Luke 2:2 .