Acts 1:8-18

8 But you will receive ¹power ²when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ³you will be ⁴my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and ⁵Samaria, and ⁶to the end of the earth. ”

9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, ⁷he was lifted up, and ⁸a cloud took him out of their sight.

10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, ⁹two ¹⁰men stood by them in ¹¹white robes,

11 and said, ¹²“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, ¹³will ¹⁴come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. ”

Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

12 Then ¹⁵they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

13 And when they had entered, they went up to ¹⁶the upper room, where they were staying, ¹⁷Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon ¹⁸the Zealot and Judas the son of James.

14 All these ¹⁹with one accord ²⁰were devoting themselves to prayer, together with ²¹the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and ²²his brothers. ^[a]

15 In those days Peter stood up among ²³the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said,

16 “Brothers, ²⁴the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, ²⁵who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

17 For ²⁶he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in ²⁷this ministry. ”

18 (Now this man ²⁸acquired a field with ²⁹the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong^[b] he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.

Acts 1:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ACTS

This book, in some copies, is called, "The Acts of the holy Apostles". It contains an history of the ministry and miracles of the apostles of Christ, and is a sort of a journal of their actions, from whence it takes its name. It begins at the ascension of Christ, and reaches to the imprisonment of the Apostle Paul at Rome; and is a history of upwards of thirty years: it gives an account of the first Gospel church at Jerusalem, and of the progress of the Gospel there, and in Judea, by the means of all the apostles, and particularly Peter, the minister of the circumcision, and who also first opened the door of faith to the Gentiles: it shows how the Gospel went forth from Jerusalem, and was spread in the Gentile world, especially by the Apostle Paul, whose companion Luke was, that was the writer of this book; for that it was written by him is very evident from the beginning of it, it being dedicated to the same person his Gospel is, and of which he makes mention; and in the Complutensian edition the book is called, "The Acts of the Apostles of Saint Luke the Evangelist"; and so the title of it in the Syriac version is, "the Book of the Acts: that is, the history of the blessed apostles, which my Lord Luke the Evangelist collected for the saints". It was by him written in the Greek language; and we are told {a}, that there was a version of it into the Hebrew language, and which was laid up in the library of the Jews at Tiberias; and is cited by R. Azarias {b} under the name of twlweph, "the Acts": of the authority of this book there has been no doubt, among the ancients, only Cerinthus the heretic endeavoured to discredit it; and it was not received by another sort of heretics called Severiani, from Severus, a disciple of Tatian {c}. It is a most excellent and useful work, showing the first planting of Christianity, and of Christian churches, both among the Jews and Gentiles; the spread and progress of the Gospel in several parts of the world; what sufferings the apostles endured for the sake of it; and with what patience and courage they bore them; and what success attended them; and is a standing proof and confirmation of the Christian religion.

{a} Epiphan. Contr. Haeres. l. 1. Haeres. 30. {b} Meor Enayim, p. 167. {c} Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 4. c. 29.

Cross References

• 1. 1:8 ch. 4:33; Luke 24:49; 1 Thess. 1:5; [ch. 10:38; Luke 4:14]
• 2. 1:8 ver. 5
• 3. 1:8 [ver. 22]; See Luke 24:48
• 4. 1:8 [Isa. 43:12]
• 5. 1:8 ch. 8:1, 14; [Matt. 10:5]
• 6. 1:8 ch. 13:47; [Mark 16:15; Col. 1:23]
• 7. 1:9 ver. 2
• 8. 1:9 See 1 Thess. 4:17
• 9. 1:10 [Luke 24:4]
• 10. 1:10 Josh. 5:13; Dan. 9:21; 10:5; 12:6, 7; Zech. 1:8-11
• 11. 1:10 Matt. 28:3; Mark 16:5; John 20:12
• 12. 1:11 ch. 2:7; 13:31
• 13. 1:11 [Phil. 3:20; 1 Thess. 1:10]; See Matt. 16:27
• 14. 1:11 2 Thess. 1:10
• 15. 1:12 Luke 24:50, 52
• 16. 1:13 ch. 9:37, 39; 20:8
• 17. 1:13 See Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16
• 18. 1:13 [ch. 21:20]
• 19. 1:14 ch. 2:46; 4:24; 5:12; 15:25; Rom. 15:6
• 20. 1:14 ch. 2:42; 6:4; Rom. 12:12; Col. 4:2; [Eph. 6:18]
• 21. 1:14 Luke 8:2, 3
• 22. 1:14 See Matt. 12:46
• 23. 1:15 See John 21:23
• 24. 1:16 Luke 24:44; [Luke 22:37]
• 25. 1:16 Matt. 26:47; Mark 14:43; Luke 22:47; John 18:3
• 26. 1:17 John 6:71; 13:21
• 27. 1:17 ver. 25; ch. 20:24; 21:19; Rom. 11:13; 2 Cor. 4:1
• 28. 1:18 [Matt. 27:5-8]
• 29. 1:18 [Matt. 26:14-16]

Footnotes

• [a] 1:14 Or 'brothers and sisters'. The plural Greek word 'adelphoi' (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, 'adelphoi' may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God’s family, the church; also verse 15
• [b] 1:18 Or 'swelling up'