Numbers 27:23

27:23 He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the Lord commanded, ¹  by the authority ²  of Moses.

Deuteronomy 34:9

The Epitaph of Moses

34:9 Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had placed his hands on him; ³  and the Israelites listened to him and did just what the Lord had commanded Moses.

Acts 6:6

6:6 They stood these men before the apostles, who prayed ⁴  and placed ⁵  their hands on them.

Acts 8:15-19

8:15 These two ⁶  went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. 8:16 (For the Spirit ⁷  had not yet come upon ⁸  any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ⁹  8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans, ¹⁰  and they received the Holy Spirit. ¹¹ 

8:18 Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit ¹²  was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them money, 8:19 saying, “Give me this power ¹³  too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 13:3

13:3 Then, after they had fasted ¹⁴  and ¹⁵  prayed and placed their hands ¹⁶  on them, they sent them off.

Acts 19:6

19:6 and when Paul placed ¹⁷  his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came ¹⁸  upon them, and they began to speak ¹⁹  in tongues and to prophesy. ²⁰ 

Acts 19:1

Disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus

19:1 While ²¹  Apollos was in Corinth, ²²  Paul went through the inland ²³  regions ²⁴  and came to Ephesus. ²⁵  He ²⁶  found some disciples there ²⁷ 

Acts 4:14

4:14 And because they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say against this. ²⁸ 

Acts 5:22

5:22 But the officers ²⁹  who came for them ³⁰  did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, ³¹ 

Hebrews 6:2

6:2 teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

¹ tn Heb “spoke.”

² tn Heb “hand.”

³ sn See Num 27:18.

⁴ tn Literally this is a participle in the Greek text (προσευξάμενοι, proseuxamenoi). It could be translated as a finite verb (“and they prayed and placed their hands on them”) but much smoother English results if the entire coordinate clause is converted to a relative clause that refers back to the apostles.

⁵ tn Or “laid.”

⁶ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the phrase “these two” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.

⁷ tn Grk “For he”; the referent (the Spirit) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Or “fallen on.”

⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

¹⁰ tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the Samaritans) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ sn They received the Holy Spirit. It is likely this special distribution of the Spirit took place because a key ethnic boundary was being crossed. Here are some of “those far off” of Acts 2:38-40.

¹² 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.

¹³ tn Or “ability”; Grk “authority.”

¹⁴ tn The three aorist participles νηστεύσαντες (nhsteusante"), προσευξάμενοι (proseuxamenoi), and ἐπιθέντες (epiqente") are translated as temporal participles. Although they could indicate contemporaneous time when used with an aorist main verb, logically here they are antecedent. On fasting and prayer, see Matt 6:5, 16; Luke 2:37; 5:33; Acts 14:23.

¹⁵ tn Normally English style, which uses a coordinating conjunction between only the last two elements of a series of three or more, would call for omission of “and” here. However, since the terms “fasting and prayer” are something of a unit, often linked together, the conjunction has been retained here.

¹⁶ sn The placing of hands on Barnabas and Saul (traditionally known as “the laying on of hands”) refers to an act picturing the commission of God and the church for the task at hand.

¹⁷ tn Or “laid.”

¹⁸ 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.

¹⁹ tn The imperfect verb ἐλάλουν (elaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

²⁰ tn The imperfect verb ἐπροφήτευον (eprofhteuon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

²¹ 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.

²² map For location see JP1-C2; JP2-C2; JP3-C2; JP4-C2.

²³ tn Or “interior.”

²⁴ tn BDAG 92 s.v. ἀνωτερικός has “upper τὰ ἀ. μέρη the upper (i.e. inland) country, the interior Ac 19:1.”

²⁵ map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.

²⁶ 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.

²⁷ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

²⁸ tn Or “nothing to say in opposition.”

²⁹ tn The Greek term ὑπηρέτης (Juphreth") generally means “servant,” but in the NT is used for many different types of servants, like attendants to a king, the officers of the Sanhedrin (as here), assistants to magistrates, and (especially in the Gospel of John) Jewish guards in the Jerusalem temple (see L&N 35.20).

³⁰ tn The words “for them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

³¹ tn Grk “reported, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.