Text -- Acts 19:1-8 (NET)

Disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus

19:1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul went through the inland regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples there 19:2 and said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 19:3 So Paul said, “Into what then were you baptized?” “Into John’s baptism,” they replied. 19:4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, 19:6 and when Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. 19:7 (Now there were about twelve men in all.)

Paul Continues to Minister at Ephesus

19:8 So Paul entered the synagogue and spoke out fearlessly for three months, addressing and convincing them about the kingdom of God.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Act 19:1

¹ tn Grk “It happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

² map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

³ tn Or “interior.”

⁴ tn BDAG 92 s.v. ἀνωτερικός has “upper τὰ ἀ. μέρη the upper (i.e. inland) country, the interior Ac 19:1.”

⁵ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

⁶ tn Grk “and found.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the sequencing with the following verse the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

⁷ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

NET Notes: Act 19:2

¹ tn The participle πιστεύσαντες (pisteusante") is taken temporally.

² tn Grk “they [said] to him” (the word “said” is implied in the Greek text).

³ tn This use of ἀλλά (alla) is ascensive and involves an ellipsis (BDAG 45 s.v. ἀλλά 3): “No, [not only did we not receive the Spirit,] but also we have not heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” However, this is lengthy and somewhat awkward in English, and the ascensive meaning can be much more easily represented by including the word “even” after the negation. Apparently these disciples were unaware of the provision of the Spirit that is represented in baptism. The language sounds like they did not know about a Holy Spirit, but this seems to be only linguistic shorthand for not knowing about the Spirit’s presence (Luke 3:15-18). The situation is parallel to that of Apollos. Apollos and these disciples represent those who “complete” their transition to messianic faith as Jews.

NET Notes: Act 19:3

¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Grk “they said.”

NET Notes: Act 19:4

¹ sn These disciples may have had their contact with John early on in the Baptist’s ministry before Jesus had emerged. This is the fifth time Luke links John the Baptist and Jesus (Acts 1:5; 11:16; 13:25; 18:25).

NET Notes: Act 19:6

¹ tn Or “laid.”

² sn The coming of the Holy Spirit here is another case where the Spirit comes and prophesy results in Acts (see Acts 2). Paul’s action parallels that of Peter (Acts 8) and not just with Gentiles.

³ tn The imperfect verb ἐλάλουν (elaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

⁴ tn The imperfect verb ἐπροφήτευον (eprofhteuon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

NET Notes: Act 19:7

¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

NET Notes: Act 19:8

¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Grk “So entering the synagogue, he spoke out fearlessly.” The participle εἰσελθών (eiselqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

³ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

⁴ tn Or “boldly.”

⁵ tn Although the word διελέξατο (dielexato; from διαλέγομαι, dialegomai) is frequently translated “reasoned,” “disputed,” or “argued,” this sense comes from its classical meaning where it was used of philosophical disputation, including the Socratic method of questions and answers. However, there does not seem to be contextual evidence for this kind of debate in Acts 19:8. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21.

⁶ tn Or “addressing them persuasively.” The two participles διαλεγόμενος and πείθων (dialegomeno" and peiqwn) can be understood as a hendiadys (so NIV, NRSV), thus, “addressing them persuasively.”

⁷ sn To talk about Jesus as the Christ who has come is to talk about the kingdom of God. This is yet another summary of the message like that in 18:28.