Acts 2:2-4

2:2 Suddenly ¹  a sound ²  like a violent wind blowing ³  came from heaven ⁴  and filled the entire house where they were sitting. 2:3 And tongues spreading out like a fire ⁵  appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them. 2:4 All ⁶  of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages ⁷  as the Spirit enabled them. ⁸ 

Acts 4:31

4:31 When ⁹  they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, ¹⁰  and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak ¹¹  the word of God ¹²  courageously. ¹³ 

Acts 8:15-17

8:15 These two ¹⁴  went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. 8:16 (For the Spirit ¹⁵  had not yet come upon ¹⁶  any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) ¹⁷  8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans, ¹⁸  and they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ 

Acts 11:15

11:15 Then as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on ²⁰  them just as he did ²¹  on us at the beginning. ²² 

Acts 19:6

19:6 and when Paul placed ²³  his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came ²⁴  upon them, and they began to speak ²⁵  in tongues and to prophesy. ²⁶ 

[2:2]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated for stylistic reasons. It occurs as part of the formula καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto) which is often left untranslated in Luke-Acts because it is redundant in contemporary English. Here it is possible (and indeed necessary) to translate ἐγένετο as “came” so that the initial clause of the English translation contains a verb; nevertheless the translation of the conjunction καί is not necessary.

[2:2]  ² tn Or “a noise.”

[2:2]  ³ tn While φέρω (ferw) generally refers to movement from one place to another with the possible implication of causing the movement of other objects, in Acts 2:2 φέρομαι (feromai) should probably be understood in a more idiomatic sense of “blowing” since it is combined with the noun for wind (πνοή, pnoh).

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Or “from the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context.

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Or “And divided tongues as of fire.” The precise meaning of διαμερίζομαι (diamerizomai) in Acts 2:3 is difficult to determine. The meaning could be “tongues as of fire dividing up one to each person,” but it is also possible that the individual tongues of fire were divided (“And divided tongues as of fire appeared”). The translation adopted in the text (“tongues spreading out like a fire”) attempts to be somewhat ambiguous.

[2:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[2:4]  ⁷ tn The Greek term is γλώσσαις (glwssai"), the same word used for the tongues of fire.

[2:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “just as the spirit gave them to utter.” The verb ἀποφθέγγομαι (apofqengomai) was used of special utterances in Classical Greek (BDAG 125 s.v.).

[4:31]  ⁹ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[4:31]  ¹⁰ sn The place where they were assembled…was shaken. This signifies that God is in their midst. See Acts 16:26; Exod 19:18; Ps 114:7; Isa 6:4.

[4:31]  ¹¹ tn The imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to speak”). Logical sequencing suggests that their speaking began after they were filled with the Spirit. The prayer was answered immediately.

[4:31]  ¹² tn Or “speak God’s message.”

[4:31]  ¹³ tn Or “with boldness.”

[8:15]  ¹⁴ 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.

[8:16]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “For he”; the referent (the Spirit) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:16]  ¹⁶ tn Or “fallen on.”

[8:16]  ¹⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[8:17]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the Samaritans) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:17]  ¹⁹ 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.

[11:15]  ²⁰ tn Or “came down on.”

[11:15]  ²¹ tn The words “he did” are not in the Greek text but are implied. They form an ellipsis which must be supplied for the modern English reader. Some modern translations supply “it” rather than “he” because the gender of πνεῦμα (pneuma) in Greek is neuter, but there are sufficient NT contexts that use masculine pronouns to refer to the Spirit to justify the use of a masculine pronoun here in the translation.

[11:15]  ²² sn At the beginning is an allusion to Acts 2 and Pentecost. The beginning is a way to refer to the start of the period of the realization of Jesus’ promise in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8. Peter was arguing that God gave Gentiles the same benefits he gave the Jews at the start of their mission.

[19:6]  ²³ tn Or “laid.”

[19:6]  ²⁴ 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.

[19:6]  ²⁵ tn The imperfect verb ἐλάλουν (elaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[19:6]  ²⁶ tn The imperfect verb ἐπροφήτευον (eprofhteuon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.