Acts 8:13

8:13 Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to ¹  Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed. ² 

Acts 8:18-21

8:18 Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit ³  was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them money, 8:19 saying, “Give me this power ⁴  too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” 8:20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, ⁵  because you thought you could acquire ⁶  God’s gift with money! 8:21 You have no share or part ⁷  in this matter ⁸  because your heart is not right before God!

[8:13]  ¹ tn Or “he kept close company with.”

[8:13]  ² sn He was amazed. Now Simon, the one who amazed others, is himself amazed, showing the superiority of Philip’s connection to God. Christ is better than anything the culture has to offer.

[8:18]  ³ tc Most witnesses (Ì^45,74 A* C D E Ψ 33 1739 Ï latt sy bo) here read “the Holy Spirit” (τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, to pneuma to {agion), while a few key mss have simply τὸ πνεῦμα (א A^c B sa mae). Although it is possible that some scribes omitted τὸ ἅγιον because of its perceived superfluity (note vv. 15, 17, 19), it is far more likely that others added the adjective out of pious motives.

[8:19]  ⁴ tn Or “ability”; Grk “authority.”

[8:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “May your silver together with you be sent into destruction.” This is a strong curse. The gifts of God are sovereignly bestowed and cannot be purchased.

[8:20]  ⁶ tn Or “obtain.”

[8:21]  ⁷ tn The translation “share or part” is given by L&N 63.13.

[8:21]  ⁸ tn Since the semantic range for λόγος (logos) is so broad, a number of different translations could be given for the prepositional phrase here. Something along the lines of “in this thing” would work well, but is too colloquial for the present translation.