Questions tagged [acts]
The second half of Luke's history of the church, which was commissioned by Theophilus. It covers the actions of the Apostles from Christ's ascension to heaven to Paul's imprisonment in Rome.
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What are the interpretive options for Acts 15 and Galatians 1-2?
In Acts 15 a dispute between Paul and Peter is described. Here are the details, as I understand them:
Peter was denying table fellowship to new Christian converts who were not circumcised and who did ...
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In Acts 26:23 what does it mean that the Messiah will “proclaim light”?
[Act 26:23 ASV] (23) how that the Christ must suffer, and how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.
[Act 26:23 MGNT] (23) εἰ ...
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Does Acts 2:7 suggest that all of the 120 of Pentecost were part of the lost sheep of the northern kingdom of Israel?
Galilee was "the northern kingdom" of Israel though that kingdom was no longer God's people. The scattered sheep were referred to as "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" aka "Ephraim".
[Acts 2:7 ...
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1answer
58 views
Who are “them” and “the brothers” in Acts 22:5?
In Acts, Paul is giving a defense before the people of Jerusalem. In verse 5 Paul says "from them I received letters to the brothers" (ESV). I've seen two understandings of this.
The first is that "...
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1answer
60 views
Why does Jesus say Judas had perished when he was still alive?
It seems that Jesus is suggesting that Judas had already died before he commits suicide, which we know happens after the betrayal.
For some context let me start the quotation from John 17:6.
“I ...
3
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1answer
53 views
Did Paul quote Habakkuk 1:5 out of context in Acts 13:41?
Acts 13:40 - 41 (NKJV)
"Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the
prophets come upon you: "Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish!
For I work a work in your days, A work which you ...
1
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2answers
41 views
Why do some translations of the Bible say 'Spirit of Jesus' in Acts 16:7?
Whilst comparing a number of different versions I noticed that in Acts 16:7, some translations like the NIV, NLT, ESV say 'Spirit of Jesus', where as Young's Literal and the KJV just say 'Spirit'.
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88 views
How does the author of Acts say Moses was a man of power in words and deeds in Acts 7:22?
Acts 7
[22]Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.
But when had been called upon to go to Egypt to proclaim God's message Moses ...
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2answers
46 views
I know that you acted in ignorance. Acts 3:17
Whilst giving a sermon in the temple, Peter said to people:
Acts 3:17 NASB
“And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your
rulers did also."
Why did the Jews act in ...
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2answers
258 views
How did authorities know that Paul was really a Roman citizen?
A previous answer to a different question ventured into the territory of my question here, quoting from The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (which in turn, cited from some commentaries) that ...
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4answers
183 views
How does Acts 15:21 link to Acts 15:20?
Acts 15:19-21 (NIV) “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food ...
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1answer
49 views
Translating & interpreting the text of Acts 2:41
The text of Acts 2.41. The verse has two independent statements: They were baptized ... and Souls were added. Seems to me that this verse says nothing about how many actually received Peter's message ...
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2answers
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In Acts 11:17 is Peter referencing when he and the 120 believed or Cornelius?
I'm confused about how to interpret Acts 11:17, especially because of Bible translation differences.
The Bible in Basic English (translation)
If then God gave them, when they had faith in the Lord ...
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Acts 18:17: Why did the Greeks start beating the ruler of the synagogue?
Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue,
and beat him before the judgment seat (Acts 18:17, KJV)
Why did the Greeks start beating the ruler of the synagogue? Does the ...
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1answer
111 views
In Acts 13:22, does “a man after my own heart” refer to David or Jesse?
After comparing 1 Samuel 13:14 with Acts 13:22, I have often wondered if Acts 13:22 means that Jesse rather than David was a man after God’s own heart.
1 Samuel 13:14
14 But now thy kingdom shall ...
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2answers
182 views
In Acts 26:1 why does Paul stretch out his hand before beginning his defense?
In a courtroom setting and facing serious charges before King
Agrippa II Paul is permitted by the king to make his defense. Luke says "Paul stretched out his hand" and began his defense:
[Act 26:1-...
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1answer
21 views
In Acts 1:6, what is the significance of the particle εἰ?
In Acts 1:6, it is written,
Ϛʹ Οἱ μὲν οὖν συνελθόντες ἠρώτων αὐτὸν λέγοντες· κύριε, εἰ ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ ἀποκαθιστάνεις τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ Ἰσραήλ; NA28, ©2012
What is the function/meaning of εἰ in ...
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3answers
69 views
Is it a written law or an oral law that Peter says is violated when a Jew associates with a non-Jew?
"You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, (Acts 10:28 ESV)
Can someone offer a citation from Torah or other Jewish works that may have ...
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1answer
138 views
Was the power they received in Matthew 10 different from the one they received in Acts 2?
Christ gives power to the disciples to cast out demons and heal the sick which was prior to the giving of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 10:1 KJV
1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, ...
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1answer
82 views
Who is this “Unknown god” that Paul talked about in Acts 17:23?
What was the Unknown God did Greeks had and if it is unknown God, why it is written in Capitel Letters in the Acts?(Acts. 17.23) "I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you ...
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2answers
86 views
Could the symbolic gesture of shaking off dust in Matthew 10 and Acts 13 have been steeped in some Jewish culture?
Matthew 10:14 NASB
14 Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.
Acts 13:51 NASB
51 But they shook off the dust ...
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3answers
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In Acts 11:26 what were the disciples called in Antioch?
Acts 11:26 - It was in Antioch that the disciples were first given the name of “Christians”.
Disciples and Christians are both accusative masculine plural. If the disciples are the subject of the ...
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102 views
What does it mean that “the Lord stood near Paul” in Acts 23:11?
Acts 23:11 (NIV) says the following:
The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
What does ...
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4answers
50 views
What tone was Paul intending to convey in Acts 23:5?
In Acts 23:3-5 (NIV):
2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You ...
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5answers
294 views
Per Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3 why did John the Baptist preach the “baptism of repentance” and not “repent” for the forgivness of sin?
John the Baptist never told any one to directly repent of their sin. He preached the "baptism of repentance" for the forgiveness of sin. Is there a significant difference in the two concepts?
...
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6answers
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Per Acts 3:19, to whom or to what does Peter say to “return”?
Acts 3:19 (ESV)
19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted
out...
According to Dr. Charles P. Bayliss of Dallas Theological Seminary in an article published in the ...
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2answers
84 views
Per Acts 5, Acts 11 and 2 Timothy 2, is repentance a gift?
Acts 5:31 (KJV)
31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a
Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Acts 11:18 (KJV)
When they heard these ...
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5answers
241 views
Is the anointing of Jesus mentioned in Acts 10:38 an anointing as king, priest or what?
When I think of an "anointing" I primarily think of a prophet marking a person off as king in the same way that Samuel anointed David:
KJV 1 Samuel 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and ...
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2answers
753 views
Why did the apostles not adhere strictly to the instructions of the Lord concerning water baptism?
In Matt 28:19, Jesus commanded the apostles to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, but we see in Acts of the Apostles that they baptized in the name of Jesus ...
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219 views
Is Jesus’ response to worship in John 9:38 only consistent with him being God?
ὁ δὲ ἔφη· πιστεύω, κύριε· καὶ προσεκύνησεν αὐτῷ.(John 9:38, NA27)
He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. (John 9:38, ESV).
The apostle Peter in Acts (10:26-27), similar incident with ...
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Can Luke's use of κράτιστε be taken as his way of acknowledging someone who held the office of High Priest?
1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of ...
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The time of restoration of the Kingdom asked in Acts 1:6? Why didn't Jesus answer plainly?
It does not seem that Jesus gave a direct answer when the disciples asked him about the Kingdom in Acts 1:6.
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at
this time restore ...
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The Book of Acts and the Elamites
The Elamites are the most curious group of people in the entire Bible. They first appear in the Book of Genesis where they are the sovereign kings over the vassal-states of the cities of the plain.
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Does Paul contradict what he said in Acts 17:29-30 in Romans 1:18-25?
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God ...
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Did Aeneas turn to the Lord with all the others in Lydda and Sharon?
In Acts 9:32-35
32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was ...
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92 views
Into how many parts is the cloven tongue parted in Acts 2:3?
Acts 2:3 KJV
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
The word DIAMERIZO is interpreted as "cloven" or split in the KJV. I had always "assumed" that ...
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3answers
168 views
How possible is it that the Gospel of Luke and Acts were written for Paul’s defense?
The abrupt stop of the historic information in the book of Acts leads to the conclusion that the history stops because that was when Luke wrote Acts and his Gospel. Note where the history stops:
...
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4answers
492 views
Why were Peter and John needed to lay hands on Samaritans when Philip was there?
Acts 8 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached
Christ unto them. 6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto
those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the ...
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2answers
217 views
Is Acts 1:8 a promise or command?
The render of the famous Acts 1:8:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you
will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and
to the ends of the ...
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1answer
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What is the force of the optative ἔχοι in Acts 17:11?
In the Greek, Acts 17:11 reads:
οὗτοι δὲ ἦσαν εὐγενέστεροι τῶν ἐν Θεσσαλονίκῃ, οἵτινες ἐδέξαντο τὸν
λόγον μετὰ πάσης προθυμίας, τὸ καθ’ ἡμέραν ἀνακρίνοντες τὰς γραφὰς εἰ
ἔχοι ταῦτα οὕτως.
The ...
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2answers
309 views
How long was the ark at Kirjath Jearim in 1 Samuel 7:2?
In the text its clear that the ark was captured & then kept afterwards at Kirjath Jearim before Saul had been anointed king & Saul went on to rule for about forty years.David came into power ...
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3answers
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In Romans 1:16 why does Paul say “to the Jew first”?
KJV Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is
the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the
Jew first, and also to the Greek.
I am looking for a very ...
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1answer
36 views
Is Luke's mention of “the hour of prayer” in Acts 3:1 intended to establish that time as the time for Christians to pray?
Does the mention of "the hour of prayer" in Acts 3:1 suggest that Christians are to pray at a specific time?:
Act 3:1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the
hour of prayer, ...
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197 views
In Acts 5:9-11 why does Peter dispense immediate judgment?
In Matthew 13:30 Jesus taught a parable about not pulling up weeds until the harvest:
NIV Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that
time I will tell the harvesters: First ...
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2answers
162 views
In Acts 4:13 how did Peter and John's ignorance indicate that they had been with Jesus?
KJV Act_4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and
perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled;
and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with ...
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1answer
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Are Christ’s words to Ananias in Acts 9:12 and 15 an approval of Paul’s message of grace?
Acts 9:11-18 (KJV)
11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is
called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called
Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he ...
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5answers
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In Galatians 2:11-13 why does Peter fear the Jewish believers?
KJV Gal 2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to
the face, because he was to be blamed. Gal 2:12 For before that
certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but ...
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2answers
185 views
What does “polluted” (ἀλισγημάτων) mean in Acts 15:20?
In Acts 15:19-20, James renders his judgment on the matter of the Gentiles that Peter has brought before the Jerusalem council:
It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult ...
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3answers
71 views
In Acts 15:17 what specifically does it entail to “seek the Lord”?
In Acts 15:17 James finds confirmation of Peter's assessment that "God has granted repentance to the gentiles" in Amos' prophesy:
NIV Acts 15:17 that the rest of mankind may seek [out] [ἐκζητήσωσιν]...
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521 views
Why is Acts 8:37 omitted in some Bibles?
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
-- Acts 8:37 (KJV)
Why don't some versions of Bible ...
