Daniel P. Barron

1 And Saul was approving of his death. And in that day, there was a great persecution upon the assembly that was in Jerusalem. And all were scattered about the country of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 And Saul ravaged the assembly, going into the houses and dragging men and women, he delivered into prison. 4 Therefore, those scattered went throughout preaching ⁱ the word.

5 And Philip went down to a city of the Samaria and preached to them the Christ. 6 And the crowds heeded the things spoken by Philip with one accord, in hearing them and seeing the signs which he did. 7 For many of those having unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out, and many paralized and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.

9 And a certain man by the name of Simon who was previously in the city practicing magic ⁱⁱ and amazing the nation of the Samaria, was claiming to be someone great himself, 10 to whom they ⁱⁱⁱ heeded from small to great, saying, “This one is ^iv the great power of the God.” 11 And they heeded him, because for a long time with the magic ^v he amazed them. 12 And when they believed Philip preaching the good news concerning the things of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being immersed, both men and women. 13 And Simon also himself believed, ^vi and being immersed continued with Philip. And seeing powers and signs being done, he was amazed. ^vii

14 And the apostles in Jerusalem hearing that the Samaria had received the word of God, sent to them the Peter and John. 15 Who, going down, prayed for them, that they might receive the holy spirit. 16 For it had not yet fallen upon any of them, but they had only been immersed into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid the hands upon them and were receiving holy spirit. ^viii

18 And Simon seeing that through the laying on of the apostles hands the holy spirit was given, offered them money, ^ix 19 saying, “Give me also this authority, so that to whom I lay hands upon might receive holy spirit.” 20 And Peter said to him, “Your silver ^x be with you unto perdition, ^xi because you thought the gift of God was to be obtained through money. 21 You have no part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before the God. 22 Repent therefore from this your evil and beseech the God if perhaps the thought of your heart will be forgiven you. 23 For I see you are in the gall ^xii of bitterness and the bond of unrighteousness.” 24 And Simon answering said, “You ask for me to the Lord, that none come upon me which you have spoken.” 25 So then, having testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, and preached the good news in many towns of the Samaritans.

26 And a messenger of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Arise and go down south upon the road which goes down from Jerusalem unto Gaza.” This is wilderness. 27 And arising, he went. And behold, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, a ruler ^xiii of Candace, the queen of Ethiopians, who was over all of her treasury, who worshipping had come to Jerusalem 28 and was returning. And sitting upon his chariot, and ^xiv he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the spirit said to Philip, “Go and join this chariot.” 30 And Philip running, heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you indeed know what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “For how can I, since there is not someone leading me?” And he urged Philip coming up to sit with him. 32 And the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “As a sheep lead to slaughter and as a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ^xv 33 In his humiliation his justice was taken away, ^xvi and who will declare his generation? For his life is taken away ^xvii from the earth.” ^xviii 34 And the eunuch answering said to Philip, “I ask you, about whom is the prophet saying this? About himself, or about some other?” 35 And Philip opening his mouth and beginning from this scripture, preached good news to him, the Joshua. 36 And as they were going down the road, they came upon some water. And the eunuch said, “Behold, water. What forbids me to be immersed?” 37 ^xix And Philip said, “If you believe from the whole heart, it is lawful.” ^xx And answering he said, “I believe the son of the God to be the Joshua Christ.” 38 And he ordered the chariot to stand. And they both went down into the water, the Philip and the eunuch, and he immersed him. 39 And when they came out of the water, spirit of the Lord snatched ^xxi the Philip, and the eunuch did not see him any longer; for ^xxii he went his way rejoicing. 40 And Philip was found in Ashdod. ^xxiii And going through, he was preaching good news in all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.

Acts 7 - Acts 9

Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdfs here and here.

1. εὐαγγελιζόμενοι (euangelizomenoi) - “preaching good news” - same root word as in Matthew 11:5. See footnote therein. ^
2. μαγεύων (mageuôn) - “practicing magic” (NAS) - NKJV “practiced sorcery”; KJV “used sorcery” - only found here. The verb for “practicing sorcery,” φαρμακεύω (pharmakeuô), is not found in the NT, but it is found in the Greek OT (LXX) in 2 Chronciles 33:6 (NKJV “used . . . sorcery”) & Psalm 58:5 (LXX 57:6; H58:6, NKJV “charming”). ^
3. RT & CT add πάντες (pantes) “all” ^
4. CT adds καλουμένη (kaloumenê) “called” - e.g. NAS “what is called” ^
5. μαγείαις (mageiais) - “magic” - KJV, NKJV “sorceries”; NAS “magic arts” - only found here. The Greek word for “sorcery” is φαρμακεία (pharmakeia) found only in Galatians 5:20; Revelation 9:21; 18:23. There is also the Greek word φάρμακοι (pharmakoi), "sorcerers," found in the NT only in Revelation 22:15 & 21:8. See also “magic,” περίεργα (perierga), in Acts 19:19. For more on “magic” (NKJV), see also Ezekiel 13:17-23 (NKJV “magic charms” ות תו סת כס [kesâtot]); Daniel 2:2, 10 “magician” (LXX μάγον [magon]). See also footnote for Genesis 41:8. ^
6. ἐπίστευσεν (episteusen) - “believed” - here is an example of faith not yet unto salvation (see verses 18-23). For this concept (faith without salvation), see also Exodus 4:31/14:30-31/Psalm 106:7-26; 2 Kings 17:32-34, 40-41; Matthew 22:1-13/Revelation 19:8; John 2:23-25; James 2:14, 26; 2 Peter 3:9. ^
7. The one who amazed others was amazed himself. ^
8. This is not always how the Holy Spirit was given. For example, see John 20:22; Acts 10:44-45. How is the Holy Spirit received? Galatians 3:2 “by the hearing of faith,” and “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). For the Spirit received as here with the laying on of hands, see Acts 9:17; 19:6. ^
9. χρήματα (chrêmata) - “money” - see verse 20 where Peter calls the χρήματα (chrêmata) “money” ἀργύριόν (argurion) “silver.” See also footnote for Mark 10:23. ^
10. ἀργύριόν (argurion) - “silver” ^
11. ἀπώλειαν (apôleian) - “perdition” - same word for “destruction” (NKJV) in Matthew 7:13. See footnote there. ^
12. χολὴν (cholên) - “gall” - NKJV “poisoned” - same word as “gall” (NKJV) in Matthew 27:34. ^
13. δυνάστης (dunastês) - “ruler” - used also only for “rulers” in Luke 1:52 & the “only ruler” μόνος δυνάστης (monos dunastês) in 1 Timothy 6:15 (KJV, NKJV “only Potentate”). Related noun δύναμις (dunamis) = “power” e.g. Acts 8:10. ^
14. καὶ (kai) - “and” - MT & CT, not found in RT. ^
15. See Isaiah 42:1-2. In response to the accusations of the chief priests, “He answered nothing” (Matthew 27:12-14; Mark 15:3-5). Before Herod He was completely silent (Luke 23:8-11). He did talk some with Pilate (John 18:33-19:11), but when asked, “Where are you from?” He gave him no answer (John 19:9). ^
16. John 18:37-19:8 (“more afraid,” see Matthew 27:19) – 19:8-16 ^
17. Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Daniel 9:26 ו לו יין אי וא יח י שי מש ת ת רי ייכש] yikkârêt mâshiyach ve'êyn lo] “Messiah shall be cut off, and not for Himself” - “cut off” ייכשריתת) yikkârêt) is used for literally, “cut off” (e.g. Exodus 4:25 “cut off the foreskin”), but it is often used for “killed,” e.g. same exact Hebrew word (as in Daniel 9:26) in Genesis 9:11 (“cut off” = killed); Leviticus 17:14; same root word as in e.g. Ezekiel 29:8 (“cut off from you man and beast” = kill); 14:8, 13, 17, 19, 21; 17:17; 21:3-4(H8-9); 25:7, 13, 16; 30:15; etc.. For His death, see also Psalm 22:16; 34:20/John 19:34-36; Zechariah 12:10/John 19:34-37. ^
18. This passage is found in Isaiah 53:7-8. Acts records, "In his humiliation his judgment was taken away." This follows the LXX and not the Hebrew. The Hebrew reads, "He was taken from prison and from judgment." The wording in Acts is very nearly identical with the LXX. Yet, Acts does not follow the LXX word for word. Acts adds two to four Greek words, depending on the Greek manuscript, that are non-existent in the LXX (αυτον [auton], αυτου [autou] 2x, and δε [de], all four are in the Majority and Received Texts). ^
19. This verse is in the RT, but not in the MT or CT. Such is the case also with Luke 17:36 & Acts 15:34. ^
20. ἔξεστιν (exestin) - “it is lawful” present active indicative 3rd person - same exact word as in e.g. John 18:31 (“it is . . . lawful”); Luke 20:22 (“Is it lawful”); Mark 10:2 (“Is it lawful”). ^
21. ἥρπασεν (hêrpasen) - “snatched” - found also in Matthew 11:12 (“take . . . by force”); 13:19 (wicked one “snatches away”); John 6:15 (“take . . . by force”); 10:12 (wolf “catches”), 28-29 (“snatch”); Acts 23:10 (“take . . . by force”); 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4 (“caught up”); 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (“caught up”); Jude 1:23 (“pulling” out of fire); Revelation 12:5 (“caught up”). ^
22. γὰρ (gar) - “for” - usually translated “for” or “because” ^
23. Ἄζωτον (Azôton) – “Ashdod” - KJV, NKJV, NAS “Azotus” - only found here in NT. In the OT LXX Ἄζωτον (Azôton) is “Ashdod” דוד שא א') ashdod) e.g. in 1 Samuel 5:1, 6; Isaiah 20:1(2x); Amos 8:1; Zephaniah 2:4; 9:6. LXX also has Ασεδωθ (Asedôth) for “Ashdod” דוד שא א') ashdod) in Joshua 11:22 and Ασδωδ (Asdôd) in Johsua 15:46. ^