Acts 1:1-14

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 In the first book, O ¹Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began ²to do and teach,

2 until the day when ³he was taken up, after he ⁴had given commands ⁵through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

3 ⁶He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

4 And while staying^[a] with them ⁷he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me;

5 for ⁸John baptized with water, ⁹but you will be baptized ¹⁰with^[b] the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

The Ascension

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, ¹¹will you at this time ¹²restore the kingdom to Israel?"

7 He said to them, ¹³"It is not for you to know ¹⁴times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.

8 But you will receive ¹⁵power ¹⁶when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ¹⁷you will be ¹⁸my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and ¹⁹Samaria, and ²⁰to the end of the earth."

9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, ²¹he was lifted up, and ²²a cloud took him out of their sight.

10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, ²³two ²⁴men stood by them in ²⁵white robes,

11 and said, ²⁶"Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, ²⁷will ²⁸come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

12 Then ²⁹they 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 ³⁰the upper room, where they were staying, ³¹Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon ³²the Zealot and Judas the son of James.

14 All these ³³with one accord ³⁴were devoting themselves to prayer, together with ³⁵the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and ³⁶his brothers.^[c]

Acts 1:1-14 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. Luke 1:3
• 2. Luke 24:19
• 3. See Mark 16:19
• 4. [Acts 10:42; Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; John 20:21]
• 5. [Acts 10:38; Luke 4:1, 18; John 20:22]
• 6. Acts 10:40, 41; Acts 13:31; Matthew 28:17; Mark 16:14; Luke 24:34, 36-51; John 20:19-29; John 21; 1 Corinthians 15:5-7
• 7. Luke 24:49
• 8. Acts 11:16; See Matthew 3:11
• 9. Acts 11:16; See Matthew 3:11
• 10. Acts 2:1-4
• 11. See Luke 17:20
• 12. [Micah 4:8; Matthew 17:11; Mark 9:12; Luke 19:11]
• 13. [Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32]
• 14. Daniel 2:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:1
• 15. Acts 4:33; Luke 24:49; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; [Acts 10:38; Luke 4:14]
• 16. ver. 5
• 17. [ver. 22]; See Luke 24:48
• 18. [Isaiah 43:12]
• 19. Acts 8:1, 14; [Matthew 10:5]
• 20. Acts 13:47; [Mark 16:15; Colossians 1:23]
• 21. ver. 2
• 22. See 1 Thessalonians 4:17
• 23. [Luke 24:4]
• 24. Joshua 5:13; Daniel 9:21; Daniel 10:5; Daniel 12:6, 7; Zechariah 1:8-11
• 25. Matthew 28:3; Mark 16:5; John 20:12
• 26. Acts 2:7; Acts 13:31
• 27. [Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 1:10]; See Matthew 16:27
• 28. 2 Thessalonians 1:10
• 29. Luke 24:50, 52
• 30. Acts 9:37, 39; Acts 20:8
• 31. See Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16
• 32. [Acts 21:20]
• 33. Acts 2:46; Acts 4:24; Acts 5:12; Acts 15:25; Romans 15:6
• 34. Acts 2:42; Acts 6:4; Romans 12:12; Colossians 4:2; [Ephesians 6:18]
• 35. Luke 8:2, 3
• 36. See Matthew 12:46

Footnotes

• [a]. Or eating
• [b]. Or in
• [c]. 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