Acts

In my first book, Theophilus, I wrote about everything Jesus began to do and to teach,

1The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

Note"Treatise" in the King James simply means a written account. The first book is the Gospel of Luke, which opens by addressing the same Theophilus. The name is Greek and means "friend of God" or "loved by God"; it was a real name in use at the time, and Luke 1:3 calls him "most excellent Theophilus," a form of address used for men of rank or office.

2up until the day he was taken up into heaven. Before that, through the Holy Spirit, he gave instructions to the apostles he had chosen.

2Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:

NoteWhere the King James says "the Holy Ghost," it means what modern English calls the Holy Spirit. In 1611 "ghost" meant spirit or breath, with none of the haunting sense the word carries now. The same holds everywhere the phrase appears in this chapter.

3After he suffered and died, he showed these same men that he was alive, and he gave them many clear proofs of it. Over a period of forty days they saw him, and he talked with them about the kingdom of God.

3To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

Note"Passion" here means suffering, from a Latin root meaning to undergo or endure; it has nothing to do with strong feeling. "Infallible proofs" renders a Greek word for evidence that settles a matter, the sort of demonstration that leaves no room for doubt.

4Once, when he was together with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem. Instead they were to wait for what the Father had promised. "You have heard me talk about it," he said.

4And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

NoteThe Greek word behind "being assembled together with them" is unusual and its sense is disputed. It may mean simply gathering with them, but it can also mean sharing salt with them, that is, eating a meal together. Both readings have long been defended.

5"John baptized people with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

5For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

NoteTo baptize is, in Greek, to dip or plunge something in water. John, known as John the Baptist, was a preacher who called people to turn from wrongdoing and washed them in the Jordan River as a public sign of it. "Baptized with the Holy Spirit" borrows the same image for being immersed in something that is not water.

6So when they were gathered together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will give the kingdom back to Israel?"

6When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

NoteIsrael had not governed itself for centuries and was ruled by Rome through client kings and appointed governors. Many Jews expected God to restore an independent kingdom under a descendant of David. That expectation is what the question is about.

7He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or dates. The Father has set those by his own authority.

7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

Note"Times or seasons" translates two different Greek words: one for stretches of elapsed time, the other for the fitting moment at which something happens.

8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Then you will tell others about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth."

8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

NoteThe list moves outward in rings from the city. Judea was the southern region around Jerusalem. Samaria lay immediately north of it, home to the Samaritans, a people related to the Israelites but with their own holy mountain, their own version of the law, and a long and bitter estrangement from the Jews of Jerusalem. Going through Samaria was something many Jewish travelers avoided.

9After he said this, they watched as he was lifted up, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

9And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

NoteIn the Israelite scriptures a cloud repeatedly marks the presence of God and screens it from sight, as at Sinai and over the tent of meeting. A first hearer would have caught that association in the detail.

10They kept staring into the sky as he went. Suddenly two men in white clothes were standing beside them.

10And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

Note"Stedfastly" is an older spelling of steadfastly and means fixedly, without looking away. The text says only "two men"; white clothing is how this writer elsewhere describes messengers from God, and the reader is left to draw the connection.

11They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go."

11Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

NoteGalilee was the rural northern region where most of the group came from. Its people were recognizable in Jerusalem by their accent, and the address "men of Galilee" marks them as northerners standing in the south.

12Then they went back to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives. It is near the city, about as far as a person was allowed to walk on the Sabbath.

12Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.

NoteThe Mount of Olives is the ridge just east of Jerusalem, across the Kidron valley from the city. A "sabbath day's journey" was the limit Jewish teachers set on travel during the day of rest, reckoned at two thousand cubits, roughly half a mile or about nine hundred meters. Naming it both measures the distance and tells the reader the hill was close enough to reach without breaking the rest day.

13When they got there, they went up to the upstairs room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

13And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.

NoteAn "upper room" was a room on the second story or roof level of a house, often used for guests, meals and gatherings. "Simon Zelotes" means Simon the Zealot: the word marks him as fiercely zealous, and may connect him with the hard-line nationalist current that later hardened into an organized party. "Judas the brother of James" is the translators' guess; the Greek says only "Judas of James," a construction that normally means son of James, and most modern versions read it that way.

14They all met together and kept on praying, asking God for what they needed. With them were the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

14These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

Note"With one accord" means united, of one mind. "Supplication" means earnest asking or petition. "His brethren" means Jesus' brothers; the Greek word for brother can also cover other close male kin, and what exact relation is meant has been argued over since ancient times. "The women" most likely refers to the women who had traveled with the group from Galilee.

15In those days Peter stood up among the believers. (There were about a hundred and twenty people gathered.) He said,

15And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)

16"Brothers, what the Scripture said had to come true. Long ago the Holy Spirit spoke through David about Judas, the man who led the way for those who arrested Jesus.

16Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.

Note"Men and brethren" is a set formula for addressing a Jewish assembly, close to "fellow Jews" or simply "brothers." The Psalms were traditionally credited to David, so quoting a psalm counted as quoting David; the lines Peter means are given in verse 20. Being "guide" to the arresting party means Judas led them to where Jesus could be found.

17Judas was counted as one of us, and he shared in this work with us."

17For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.

Note"Numbered with us" means counted as one of the group. "Ministry" translates a Greek word meaning service or an assigned task; it does not carry the modern sense of a clergy career.

18(With the money he was paid for his wicked act, Judas bought a field. There he fell headfirst, his body split open, and all his insides spilled out.

18Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.

Note"Bowels" in the King James means the intestines. This account differs from the one in Matthew 27:3-10, where Judas throws the money back into the temple and hangs himself, and the priests use it to buy the field. Readers have set the two side by side and tried to reconcile them since antiquity; the texts themselves make no attempt to.

19Everyone living in Jerusalem heard about it, so in their own language they called that field Akeldama, which means Field of Blood.)

19And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.

Note"Their proper tongue" means their own language, in this case Aramaic, the everyday speech of Jerusalem, used alongside Hebrew for scripture and Greek for wider business. "Aceldama" is the Aramaic phrase for field of blood, and the writer translates it for readers who would not have known it.

20"For it is written in the book of Psalms, 'Let his home be left empty; let no one live in it,' and, 'Let someone else take his position.'

20For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.

Note"Bishoprick" translates a Greek word meaning oversight or the post of an overseer. In 1611 the English word still carried that general sense of an office of charge; it is not a reference to the later church rank of bishop. The two quoted lines are from Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8.

21So we need to choose one of the men who were with us the whole time the Lord Jesus lived and worked among us.

21Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

Note"Companied with us" means kept company with us. "Went in and out among us" is a Hebrew idiom for a person's whole daily round of coming and going, often used of someone who led a group.

22That means from the time John was baptizing until the day Jesus was taken up from us. One of these men must join us as a witness that Jesus rose from the dead."

22Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

NoteDating the qualification from "the baptism of John" sets the starting line at the beginning of Jesus' public activity, so the requirement is to have been there from the start. "Ordained" in the King James means appointed or designated; no ceremony is implied. "Witness" keeps its ordinary courtroom sense: someone who can testify to what he personally saw.

23So they put forward two men: Joseph called Barsabbas, also known as Justus, and Matthias.

23And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.

NoteMany Jews of this period carried more than one name. "Barsabbas" is an Aramaic byname, meaning something like son of the Sabbath or son of Sabba, and "Justus" is a Latin name of the sort Jews commonly took for dealings with Greeks and Romans. So one man is being identified three ways.

24Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen

24And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,

Note"Whether" in 1611 could mean "which of the two," and that is its sense here. "Which knowest the hearts of all men" renders a single compound Greek word, heart-knower, used only of God.

25to take up this work and this job as an apostle. Judas left it behind when he did wrong, and he went where he belonged."

25That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

Note"By transgression fell" means turned aside and fell away from it. "That he might go to his own place" is left open in the Greek: it can be read as the place he chose for himself or the place that was his due, and the text does not say which.

26Then they cast lots, and the lot pointed to Matthias. So he was added to the eleven apostles.

26And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

NoteCasting lots meant settling a question by chance, using marked stones, sticks or tokens shaken from a container until one fell out. In Israelite practice it was used to divide land, assign duties in the temple and decide disputed cases, on the understanding that the result, random to the people casting, was not random to God.