Acts 1:2-12

2 vntyll the daye in the which he was taken vp after that he thorowe the holy goost had geven commaundementes vnto the Apostles which he had chosen:

3 to whom also he shewed him selfe alyve after his passion by many tokens apperynge vnto them fourty dayes and speakynge of the kyngdome of god

4 and gaddered them togeder and commaunded the that they shuld not departe from Ierusalem: but to wayte for ye promys of the father whereof ye have herde of me.

5 For Iohn baptised wt water: but ye shalbe baptised with the holy goost and that with in this feawe dayes.

6 When they were come togeder they axed of him sayinge: Lorde wilt thou at this tyme restore agayne ye kyngdome to Israel?

7 And he sayde vnto them: It is not for you to knowe the tymes or the seasons which ye father hath put in his awne power:

8 but ye shall receave power of the holy goost which shall come on you. And ye shall be witnesses vnto me in Ierusalem and in all Iewrye and in Samary and even vnto the worldes ende.

9 And when he had spoken these thinges whyll they behelde he was take vp and a cloude receaved him vp out of their sight.

10 And while they looked stedfastly vp to heaven as he went beholde two men stode by them in white apparell

11 which also sayde: ye men of Galile why stonde ye gasinge vp into heave? This same Iesus which is taken vp fro you in to heaven shall so come even as ye haue sene him goo into heaven.

12 Then returned they vnto Ierusalem from mount olivete which is nye to Ierusalem coteyninge a Saboth dayes iorney.

Acts 1:2-12 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.