Acts 2

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.

1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

NotePentecost is the Greek name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks, held fifty days after Passover; the name means "fiftieth." It was a harvest festival and one of the three feasts for which Jews traveled to Jerusalem, so the city would have been full of visitors. The King James "with one accord" means gathered together and of one mind, not making a sound together.

2All at once a sound came from the sky, like a strong wind rushing through, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

Note"Heaven" in the King James often means simply the sky, as it does here. The Greek word for "wind" in this verse is closely related to the word for spirit and breath, so the comparison carries a play on words that English cannot keep.

3They saw what looked like tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them.

3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

Note"Cloven" means split or divided. The same Greek word is translated "tongues" here and "languages" in the next verse: it means both the tongue in the mouth and a language spoken, exactly as in English.

4They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them the words to say.

4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Note"Holy Ghost" is the King James wording for the Holy Spirit. "Ghost" in 1611 meant spirit, with none of the modern sense of a haunting. "Other tongues" means other languages.

5At that time there were Jews living in Jerusalem who took God seriously, and they had come from every nation under the sky.

5And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

NoteJews had been scattered across the Mediterranean world and the East for centuries. Many from those communities settled back in Jerusalem in later life, and others came for the festivals. The list of places in the next verses maps that scattering.

6When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered, and they could not make sense of it, because each person heard the believers speaking in his own language.

6Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

NoteThe King James "confounded" means bewildered, thrown into confusion; it does not mean proved wrong. The Greek word behind "this was noised abroad" can mean either the noise from the sky or the sound of the voices speaking, and the text does not settle which.

7They were shocked and amazed, and they said to each other, "Look, aren't all these people who are speaking from Galilee?

7And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

NoteGalilee was a rural region in the north. Galileans were known by their distinct accent and were regarded in Jerusalem as provincial, the last people expected to command foreign languages. That assumption is what makes the crowd's question sharp.

8Then how is it that each of us hears them in the language we grew up speaking?

8And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

9We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites. We live in Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia.

9Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

NoteParthians, Medes and Elamites lived east of the Roman Empire, in what is now Iran and Iraq; Mesopotamia is the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Cappadocia and Pontus were inland and northern regions of what is now Turkey. "Asia" in the King James never means the continent: it is the Roman province of Asia, on the western coast of modern Turkey.

10We come from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt, and from the parts of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us are visitors from Rome, both Jews and people who joined the Jewish faith.

10Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

NotePhrygia and Pamphylia were also districts of what is now Turkey. Cyrene was a major city on the Libyan coast with a large Jewish population. "Proselytes" were people born outside Judaism who had converted to it fully, which for men included circumcision.

11Others are from Crete and Arabia. Yet we hear them telling about the great things God has done, and they are speaking in our own languages!"

11Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

NoteCrete is the large island south of Greece. "Arabians" here means people of the Nabataean kingdom southeast of Judea, whose capital was Petra, not inhabitants of the whole peninsula.

12They were all amazed and confused, and they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

12And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?

13But others made fun of them and said, "They have had too much new wine."

13Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

Note"New wine" translates a word for sweet, freshly fermenting wine. It was still alcoholic, so calling it new does not soften the accusation.

14Then Peter stood up with the eleven other apostles, raised his voice, and spoke to the crowd: "Men of Judea, and all of you who live in Jerusalem, understand this, and listen carefully to what I say.

14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

Note"The eleven" are the remaining apostles after Judas. A replacement, Matthias, had just been chosen, so Peter together with eleven others makes the full group of twelve.

15These men are not drunk, as you think. It is only nine in the morning.

15For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

NoteHours were counted from about six in the morning, so the third hour is roughly nine. The hour matters for more than the clock: the morning prayers and the first meal of the day would not yet have happened, which is why public drunkenness at that point would be remarkable.

16No, this is what God said long ago through the prophet Joel:

16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

NoteJoel was a Hebrew prophet. The quotation that follows runs from Joel 2:28 to 2:32.

17'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will speak messages from me, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

Note"All flesh" is a Hebrew way of saying all human beings. "Prophesy" in the Bible means to speak on God's behalf, which may or may not involve saying anything about the future.

18Even on my male servants and my female servants I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will speak messages from me.

18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:

Note"Handmaidens" means female servants. The two Greek words here are the ordinary terms for male and female slaves, the lowest rank in a household, and the point of naming them is that the promise reaches that far down.

19I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below: blood, fire, and clouds of smoke.

19And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

Note"Shew" is the old spelling of show. "Vapour of smoke" means billowing columns of smoke, the kind raised by fire or by a city burning.

20The sun will turn dark, and the moon will turn red like blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.

20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

NoteA darkened sun and a blood-red moon were standard images in the prophets for the world being shaken. "That great and notable day of the Lord" was a fixed prophetic phrase for a decisive day when God acts openly, to judge and to rescue.

21And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'

21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

NoteIn Joel's Hebrew the word behind "the Lord" is the personal name of Israel's God, which the King James usually prints as LORD in capitals. To "call on the name" is to appeal to him openly and by name.

22Men of Israel, listen to what I am saying. God proved to you who Jesus of Nazareth was by the miracles, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know.

22Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

Note"Approved of God" does not mean that God thought well of him. The word means shown to be genuine, publicly attested, pointed out by God as the real thing.

23This man was handed over to you by God's own plan and foreknowledge, and you, using the hands of lawless men, nailed him to a cross and killed him.

23Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Note"The determinate counsel" means a plan already fixed and decided. "Wicked hands" translates a phrase meaning men without the law, which can point specifically to the Romans, who stood outside the Jewish law and carried out the execution, or more generally to lawless men; the Greek allows both.

24But God raised him back to life, freeing him from the pain of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

24Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

Note"The pains of death" translates a word that literally means the pangs of childbirth. The Hebrew idiom behind it could also mean cords or snares, so the picture is of both agony and binding. "Holden" is the old form of held.

25David said this about him: 'I kept my eyes on the Lord at all times. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

25For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:

NotePeter is quoting Psalm 16, verses 8 to 11, in its Greek version. To be at someone's "right hand" was to stand where a defender or supporter stood, close enough to act on his behalf.

26So my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My body too will rest in hope,

26Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:

27because you will not abandon me to the place of the dead, and you will not let your Holy One rot in the grave.

27Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Note"Hell" here does not mean a place of punishment. The Greek word is Hades, standing for the Hebrew Sheol, the shadowy realm where all the dead were thought to go, good and bad alike. "To see corruption" means to undergo the decay of a dead body.

28You have shown me the paths that lead to life. Being in your presence will fill me with joy.'

28Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

Note"Countenance" means face. To be before someone's face is to be in his presence, in view and welcomed.

29Brothers, I can say this to you plainly about David, the father of our nation: he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us today.

29Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

Note"Patriarch" means a founding ancestor of the nation. David had been dead about a thousand years by this point, and his tomb was a known landmark in Jerusalem, which is why Peter can point to it as something anyone in the crowd could go and check.

30But David was a prophet, and he knew that God had made him a promise under oath: from his own descendants, according to the flesh, God would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne.

30Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

Note"The fruit of his loins" means a descendant, and "according to the flesh" means by physical descent. The oath is God's promise to David that his own line would hold the throne. "Christ" is not a surname: it is the Greek for "anointed one," translating the Hebrew word Messiah, the king God appoints and marks out.

31David saw this ahead of time, so he was speaking about the resurrection of the Christ, saying that he was not abandoned to the place of the dead and his body did not rot in the grave.

31He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

32God raised this same Jesus back to life, and we are all witnesses of it.

32This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.

33So he was lifted up to the place of honor at God's right hand, and he received from the Father the Holy Spirit that was promised. Then he poured out what you now see and hear.

33Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

NoteThe Greek here can mean either exalted by the right hand of God, that is, by his power, or exalted to the right hand of God, to the place of honor beside him. Both readings are ancient and the wording does not decide between them. "Shed forth" means poured out.

34David did not go up into the heavens, yet he himself says: 'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand

34For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,

NotePeter quotes Psalm 110, verse 1. In the Hebrew the first "Lord" is God's personal name and the second is a different word, the ordinary term for a master or superior. That a king's own psalm should address someone else as his superior is the puzzle Peter is pressing.

35until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'

35Until I make thy foes thy footstool.

NoteA victorious king was pictured resting his feet on those he had beaten. A footstool under the feet is an image of total subjection, not a piece of furniture.

36So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, the one you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

36Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Note"The house of Israel" means the people of Israel taken as a whole, the nation reckoned as a single extended family.

37When the people heard this, it cut them to the heart, and they said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?"

37Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

38Peter answered, "Turn away from your sins, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins will be forgiven. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Note"Repent" translates a word meaning to change one's mind and turn around, a reversal of direction rather than simply feeling sorry. To be baptized was to be immersed in water; the practice was already familiar from John the Baptist and from Jewish washing rites. "Remission of sins" means their release or cancellation, as a debt is canceled.

39This promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, for everyone the Lord our God calls to himself."

39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.

Note"All that are afar off" can mean Jews living far from Jerusalem, or people outside Israel altogether. The phrase is open, and the rest of Acts keeps returning to the question of how far it reaches.

40He warned them and urged them with many other words, saying, "Be saved from this corrupt generation."

40And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Note"Untoward" in 1611 meant crooked, twisted, perverse, the opposite of straight. It has nothing to do with the modern sense of awkward or improper.

41Those who welcomed his message were baptized, and about three thousand people were added to the group that day.

41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

42They kept on faithfully following the apostles' teaching, sharing life together, breaking bread, and praying.

42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Note"Doctrine" here simply means teaching. "Fellowship" translates a word meaning sharing in common, partnership in a shared life and shared property, not merely friendly company. "Breaking of bread" was the ordinary phrase for sitting down to a meal, and may here also carry the sense of the meal that recalled Jesus's last supper; the wording does not distinguish the two.

43A deep sense of awe came over everyone, and the apostles did many wonders and signs.

43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

44All the believers stayed together and shared everything they had.

44And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

45They sold their property and belongings and divided the money among them all, giving to anyone who was in need.

45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

46Day after day they met together in the temple with one purpose, and they broke bread in their homes. They ate their food with glad and honest hearts,

46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

Note"The temple" means the temple's great outer courts, the public spaces where crowds gathered and teachers spoke; only priests went inside the building itself. "Meat" in the King James means food of any kind, not flesh. "Singleness of heart" means simplicity, without calculation or display.

47praising God, and all the people thought well of them. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.

47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Note"Having favour with all the people" means being held in goodwill and good standing by their neighbors. "The church" translates a Greek word meaning an assembly of people called together; at this point it means the body of believers themselves, not a building or an institution.