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Acts 8:16

in Acts 8

For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

for as yet it was fallen upon none of them: only they had been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

KJV

(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

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This verse in Acts 8

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Origen of Alexandria

ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1.3.2 · Written before 253.

From all of which we learn that the person of the Holy Spirit is of so great authority and dignity that saving baptism is not complete except when performed with the authority of the whole most excellent Trinity, that is, by the naming of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This site's exposition

sent unto them Peter and John

on Acts 8:14-17

News that Samaria had received the word of God brings Peter and John down from Jerusalem, the mother church confirming rather than withholding what the Spirit had already begun through Philip's preaching. The parenthesis is pointed, as yet the Spirit was fallen upon none of them, only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, so that the gift comes distinctly through the apostles' prayer and laying on of hands rather than at the moment of baptism itself. The bench reads the delay as tied to this specific hinge in salvation history, binding the historically hostile Samaritan believers visibly to the apostolic Jerusalem church rather than establishing a fixed order that must repeat at every conversion; the gift itself remains the church's living inheritance, and the scene's lesson is God visibly knitting a divided people into one church.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He was fallen - This expression is several times applied to the Holy Spirit, Act 10:44; Act 11:15. It does not differ materially from the common expression, “The Holy Spirit descended.” It means that he came from heaven; and the expression “to fall,” applied to his influences, denotes the “rapidity” and “suddenness” of his coming. Compare Act 19:2. In the name of the Lord Jesus - See the notes on Act 2:38. See also Act 10:48; Act 19:5-6.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

on Acts 8:14-17

In the present case an important object was served by it--"the sudden appearance of a body of baptized disciples in Samaria, by the agency of one who was not an apostle, requiring the presence and power of apostles to perform their special part as the divinely appointed founders of the Church" [ALFORD]. Beautiful, too, was the spectacle exhibited of Jew and Samaritan, one in Christ.

The words behind it

17 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Acts 2:38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.10 worksActs 19:2and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”8 worksActs 19:5On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.8 worksMatthew 28:19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,7 worksActs 10:48So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.6 worksGalatians 3:27For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.5 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Acts 11:15–17As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning.4 worksRomans 6:3Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?4 worksActs 10:44–48While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message.3 works1 Corinthians 1:13–15Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?3 worksActs 19:3“Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied.3 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Matthew 28:19

    Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

    it leads to

    • Mark 16:15–16

      And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

    • Acts 2:38–39

      Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

    • Acts 1:8

      But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

    • Luke 24:47–48

      and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

  • Through

    Acts 2:38

    Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

    it leads to

    • Acts 22:16

      And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’

    • Mark 16:16

      Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

    • Acts 8:12

      But when they believed Philip as he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

    • Luke 24:47

      and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Ascension — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
The Ascension — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
Acts: the study guide →Read Acts 8 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on Acts; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles and Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1.3.2.

Read on in Acts 8 →