Acts 20:8
in Acts 20Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And there were many lights in the upper chamber where we were gathered together.
KJV
And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.
⋯
This verse in Acts 20
Commentary
10 notes on this verseUpper chamber - It was in an upper chamber in the temple that the primitive disciples were accustomed to meet: on that account, they might have preferred an upper chamber whenever they could meet with it. The pious Quesnel supposes that the smoke, issuing from the many lamps in this upper chamber, was the cause of Eutychus falling asleep; and this, he says, the apostle mentions, in charity, to excuse the young man’s appearing negligent.
This site's exposition
break bread
on Acts 20:7-8
The disciples met to break bread on the first day of the week, the day of the resurrection. This shows the church already gathering on the Lord’s day. The many lamps in the upper room fit a night meeting.
This site's exposition
there were many lamps in the upper room
Luke has named an upper room before, at 1:13 where the apostles stayed and at 9:37 and 9:39 where Tabitha lay dead. Peter raised Tabitha in such a room, and Paul will raise Eutychus after his fall from one. Luke sets the two apostles side by side again.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead." But the Devil disturbed the feast-not that he prevailed, however-by plunging the hearer in sleep, and causing him to fall down. But observe, I pray you, the theatre, how crowded it was: and the miracle, what it was. "He was sitting in a window," at dead of night. Such was their eagerness to hear him!
But observe, I beseech you, so fervent was their zeal, that they even assembled in a third loft: for they had not a Church yet.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room. Here we can allegorically say that the upper room signifies the height of spiritual gifts, night the obscurity of the Scriptures, the abundance of lamps the exposition of the hidden …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And there were many lights in the upper chamber,....
The bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ, 1 Cor. x. In the breaking of the bread, not only the breaking of Christ's body for us, to be a sacrifice for our sins, is commemorated, but the breaking of Christ's body to us, to be food and a feast for our souls, is signified.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Let the punishment of Eutychus strike an awe upon us, and show us how jealous God is in the matters of his worship; Be not deceived, God is not mocked. See how severely God visited an iniquity that seemed little, and but in a youth, and say, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And there were many lights - Why this circumstance is mentioned is not apparent. It, however, meets one of the slanders of the early enemies of Christianity, that the Christians in their assemblies were accustomed to extinguish all the lights, and to commit every kind of abomination. Perhaps the mention of many lights here is designed to intimate that it was a place of public worship, as not only the Jews, but the Gentiles were accustomed to have many lights burning in such places. In the upper chamber - See the notes on Act 1:13.
The words behind it
10 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἦσαν | esan | There were | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| δὲ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| λαμπάδες | lampades | lamps | G2985 → | |
| ἱκαναὶ | hikanai | many | G2425 → | 39 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| τῷ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὑπερῴῳ | huperoo | upper room | G5253 → | 4 times |
| οὗ | hou | where | G3757 → | 24 times |
| ἦμεν | emen | we were | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| συνηγμένοι. | sunegmenoi | assembled. | G4863 → | 59 times |
ἦσανThere were
esanG1510 →2333 times
δὲnow
deG1161 →2765 times
λαμπάδεςlamps
lampadesG2985 →
ἱκαναὶmany
hikanaiG2425 →39 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
τῷthe
toG3588 →19766 times
ὑπερῴῳupper room
huperooG5253 →4 times
οὗwhere
houG3757 →24 times
ἦμενwe were
emenG1510 →2333 times
συνηγμένοι.assembled.
sunegmenoiG4863 →59 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 1:13When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas…
it leads to
- Luke 22:12
And he will show you a large upper room, already furnished. Make preparations there.”
- Mark 14:15
And he will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
- Matthew 10:2–4
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
- Mark 2:14
As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.
- James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.
- Luke 22:12
Through
Luke 22:12And he will show you a large upper room, already furnished. Make preparations there.”
it leads to
- Acts 1:13
When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas…
- Acts 16:14–15
Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
- John 2:25
He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.
- Acts 1:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Acts
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on Acts; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Acts; J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 43; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and R. J. Knowling, The Acts of the Apostles, Expositor's Greek Testament.