John 14:16

14:16 Then ¹  I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate ²  to be with you forever –

John 15:26

15:26 When the Advocate ³  comes, whom I will send you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – he ⁴  will testify about me,

John 16:7

16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate ⁵  will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.

Acts 2:4

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 2:38

2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized ⁹  in the name of Jesus Christ ¹⁰  for ¹¹  the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ¹² 

Acts 4:8

4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹³  replied, ¹⁴  “Rulers of the people and elders, ¹⁵ 

Acts 8:15

8:15 These two ¹⁶  went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:47

10:47 “No one can withhold the water for these people to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, ¹⁷  can he?” ¹⁸ 

Acts 19:2

19:2 and said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” ¹⁹  They replied, ²⁰  “No, we have not even ²¹  heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

Galatians 3:2

3:2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law ²²  or by believing what you heard? ²³ 

[14:16]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to reflect the implied sequence in the discourse.

[14:16]  ² tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). Finding an appropriate English translation for παράκλητος is a very difficult task. No single English word has exactly the same range of meaning as the Greek word. “Comforter,” used by some of the older English versions, appears to be as old as Wycliffe. But today it suggests a quilt or a sympathetic mourner at a funeral. “Counselor” is adequate, but too broad, in contexts like “marriage counselor” or “camp counselor.” “Helper” or “Assistant” could also be used, but could suggest a subordinate rank. “Advocate,” the word chosen for this translation, has more forensic overtones than the Greek word does, although in John 16:5-11 a forensic context is certainly present. Because an “advocate” is someone who “advocates” or supports a position or viewpoint and since this is what the Paraclete will do for the preaching of the disciples, it was selected in spite of the drawbacks.

[15:26]  ³ tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). See the note on the word “Advocate” in John 14:16 for discussion of how this word is translated.

[15:26]  ⁴ tn Grk “that one.”

[16:7]  ⁵ tn Or “Helper” or “Counselor”; Grk “Paraclete,” from the Greek word παράκλητος (paraklhto"). See the note on the word “Advocate” in John 14:16 for a discussion of how this word is translated.

[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.).

[2:38]  ⁹ tn The verb is a third person imperative, but the common translation “let each of you be baptized” obscures the imperative force in English, since it sounds more like a permissive (“each of you may be baptized”) to the average English reader.

[2:38]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:38]  ¹¹ tn There is debate over the meaning of εἰς in the prepositional phrase εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν (eis afesin twn Jamartiwn Jumwn, “for/because of/with reference to the forgiveness of your sins”). Although a causal sense has been argued, it is difficult to maintain here. ExSyn 369-71 discusses at least four other ways of dealing with the passage: (1) The baptism referred to here is physical only, and εἰς has the meaning of “for” or “unto.” Such a view suggests that salvation is based on works – an idea that runs counter to the theology of Acts, namely: (a) repentance often precedes baptism (cf. Acts 3:19; 26:20), and (b) salvation is entirely a gift of God, not procured via water baptism (Acts 10:43 [cf. v. 47]; 13:38-39, 48; 15:11; 16:30-31; 20:21; 26:18); (2) The baptism referred to here is spiritual only. Although such a view fits well with the theology of Acts, it does not fit well with the obvious meaning of “baptism” in Acts – especially in this text (cf. 2:41); (3) The text should be repunctuated in light of the shift from second person plural to third person singular back to second person plural again. The idea then would be, “Repent for/with reference to your sins, and let each one of you be baptized…” Such a view is an acceptable way of handling εἰς, but its subtlety and awkwardness count against it; (4) Finally, it is possible that to a first-century Jewish audience (as well as to Peter), the idea of baptism might incorporate both the spiritual reality and the physical symbol. That Peter connects both closely in his thinking is clear from other passages such as Acts 10:47 and 11:15-16. If this interpretation is correct, then Acts 2:38 is saying very little about the specific theological relationship between the symbol and the reality, only that historically they were viewed together. One must look in other places for a theological analysis. For further discussion see R. N. Longenecker, “Acts,” EBC 9:283-85; B. Witherington, Acts, 154-55; F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary, 129-30; BDAG 290 s.v. εἰς 4.f.

[2:38]  ¹² tn Here the genitive τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος (tou Jagiou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the gift consists of the Holy Spirit.

[4:8]  ¹³ sn Filled with the Holy Spirit. The narrator’s remark about the Holy Spirit indicates that Peter speaks as directed by God and for God. This fulfills Luke 12:11-12 (1 Pet 3:15).

[4:8]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Spirit, said to them.”

[4:8]  ¹⁵ tc The Western and Byzantine texts, as well as one or two Alexandrian witnesses, read τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ (tou Israhl, “of Israel”) after πρεσβύτεροι (presbuteroi, “elders”; so D E Ψ 33 1739 Ï it), while most of the better witnesses, chiefly Alexandrian (Ì⁷⁴ א A B 0165 1175 vg sa bo), lack this modifier. The longer reading was most likely added by scribes to give literary balance to the addressees in that “Rulers” already had an adjunct while “elders” was left absolute.

[8:15]  ¹⁶ 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.

[10:47]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “just as also we.” The auxiliary verb in English must be supplied. This could be either “have” (NIV, NRSV) or “did” (NASB). “Did” is preferred here because the comparison Peter is making concerns not just the fact of the present possession of the Spirit (“they received the Spirit we now possess”), but the manner in which the Gentiles in Cornelius’ house received the Spirit (“they received the Spirit in the same manner we did [on the day of Pentecost]”).

[10:47]  ¹⁸ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question, “can he?” The question is rhetorical. Peter was saying these Gentiles should be baptized since God had confirmed they were his.

[19:2]  ¹⁹ tn The participle πιστεύσαντες (pisteusante") is taken temporally.

[19:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “they [said] to him” (the word “said” is implied in the Greek text).

[19:2]  ²¹ 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.

[3:2]  ²² tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.

[3:2]  ²³ tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.”