Luke 24:49

24:49 And look, I am sending you ¹  what my Father promised. ²  But stay in the city ³  until you have been clothed with power ⁴  from on high.”

John 14:16-17

14:16 Then ⁵  I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate ⁶  to be with you forever – 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, ⁷  because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides ⁸  with you and will be ⁹  in you.

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 ¹⁰  will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.

John 16:13-15

16:13 But when he, ¹¹  the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide ¹²  you into all truth. ¹³  For he will not speak on his own authority, ¹⁴  but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you ¹⁵  what is to come. ¹⁶  16:14 He ¹⁷  will glorify me, ¹⁸  because he will receive ¹⁹  from me what is mine ²⁰  and will tell it to you. ²¹  16:15 Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said the Spirit ²²  will receive from me what is mine ²³  and will tell it to you. ²⁴ 

Acts 1:4

1:4 While he was with them, ²⁵  he declared, ²⁶  “Do not leave Jerusalem, ²⁷  but wait there ²⁸  for what my ²⁹  Father promised, ³⁰  which you heard about from me. ³¹ 

Acts 2:4

2:4 All ³²  of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages ³³  as the Spirit enabled them. ³⁴ 

Acts 2:33-38

2:33 So then, exalted ³⁵  to the right hand ³⁶  of God, and having received ³⁷  the promise of the Holy Spirit ³⁸  from the Father, he has poured out ³⁹  what you both see and hear. 2:34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says,

‘The Lord said to my lord,

“Sit ⁴⁰  at my right hand

2:35 until I make your enemies a footstool ⁴¹  for your feet.”’ ⁴² 

2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt ⁴³  that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified ⁴⁴  both Lord ⁴⁵  and Christ.” ⁴⁶ 

The Response to Peter’s Address

2:37 Now when they heard this, ⁴⁷  they were acutely distressed ⁴⁸  and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?” 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized ⁴⁹  in the name of Jesus Christ ⁵⁰  for ⁵¹  the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ⁵² 

Ephesians 4:8

4:8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured ⁵³  captives; he gave gifts to men.” ⁵⁴ 

[24:49]  ¹ tn Grk “sending on you.”

[24:49]  ² tn Grk “the promise of my Father,” with τοῦ πατρός (tou patros) translated as a subjective genitive. This is a reference to the Holy Spirit and looks back to how one could see Messiah had come with the promise of old (Luke 3:15-18). The promise is rooted in Jer 31:31 and Ezek 36:26.

[24:49]  ³ sn The city refers to Jerusalem.

[24:49]  ⁴ sn Until you have been clothed with power refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What the Spirit supplies is enablement. See Luke 12:11-12; 21:12-15. The difference the Spirit makes can be seen in Peter (compare Luke 22:54-62 with Acts 2:14-41).

[14:16]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then” to reflect the implied sequence in the discourse.

[14:16]  ⁶ 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.

[14:17]  ⁷ tn Or “cannot receive.”

[14:17]  ⁸ tn Or “he remains.”

[14:17]  ⁹ tc Some early and important witnesses (Ì^66* B D* W 1 565 it) have ἐστιν (estin, “he is”) instead of ἔσται (estai, “he will be”) here, while other weighty witnesses ({Ì^66c,75vid א A D¹ L Θ Ψ Ë¹³ 33^vid Ï as well as several versions and fathers}), read the future tense. When one considers transcriptional evidence, ἐστιν is the more difficult reading and better explains the rise of the future tense reading, but it must be noted that both Ì⁶⁶ and D were corrected from the present tense to the future. If ἐστιν were the original reading, one would expect a few manuscripts to be corrected to read the present when they originally read the future, but that is not the case. When one considers what the author would have written, the future is on much stronger ground. The immediate context (both in 14:16 and in the chapter as a whole) points to the future, and the theology of the book regards the advent of the Spirit as a decidedly future event (see, e.g., 7:39 and 16:7). The present tense could have arisen from an error of sight on the part of some scribes or more likely from an error of thought as scribes reflected upon the present role of the Spirit. Although a decision is difficult, the future tense is most likely authentic. For further discussion on this textual problem, see James M. Hamilton, Jr., “He Is with You and He Will Be in You” (Ph.D. diss., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003), 213-20.

[16:7]  ¹⁰ 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.

[16:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “that one.”

[16:13]  ¹² tn Or “will lead.”

[16:13]  ¹³ sn Three important points must be noted here. (1) When the Holy Spirit comes, he will guide the disciples into all truth. What Jesus had said in 8:31-32, “If you continue to follow my teaching you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” will ultimately be realized in the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit to the disciples after Jesus’ departure. (2) The things the Holy Spirit speaks to them will not be things which originate from himself (he will not speak on his own authority), but things he has heard. This could be taken to mean that no new revelation is involved, as R. E. Brown does (John [AB], 2:714-15). This is a possible but not a necessary inference. The point here concerns the source of the things the Spirit will say to the disciples and does not specifically exclude originality of content. (3) Part at least of what the Holy Spirit will reveal to the disciples will concern what is to come, not just fuller implications of previous sayings of Jesus and the like. This does seem to indicate that at least some new revelation is involved. But the Spirit is not the source or originator of these things – Jesus is the source, and he will continue to speak to his disciples through the Spirit who has come to indwell them. This does not answer the question, however, whether these words are addressed to all followers of Jesus, or only to his apostles. Different modern commentators will answer this question differently. Since in the context of the Farewell Discourse Jesus is preparing the twelve to carry on his ministry after his departure, it is probably best to take these statements as specifically related only to the twelve. Some of this the Holy Spirit does directly for all believers today; other parts of this statement are fulfilled through the apostles (e.g., in giving the Book of Revelation the Spirit speaks through the apostles to the church today of things to come). One of the implications of this is that a doctrine does not have to be traced back to an explicit teaching of Jesus to be authentic; all that is required is apostolic authority.

[16:13]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “speak from himself.”

[16:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or will announce to you.”

[16:13]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “will tell you the things to come.”

[16:14]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “That one.”

[16:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “will honor me.”

[16:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “he will take.”

[16:14]  ²⁰ tn The words “what is mine” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[16:14]  ²¹ tn Or “will announce it to you.”

[16:15]  ²² tn Grk “I said he”; the referent (the Spirit) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:15]  ²³ tn The words “what is mine” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[16:15]  ²⁴ tn Or “will announce it to you.”

[1:4]  ²⁵ tn Or “While he was assembling with them,” or “while he was sharing a meal with them.” There are three basic options for translating the verb συναλίζω (sunalizw): (1) “Eat (salt) with, share a meal with”; (2) “bring together, assemble”; (3) “spend the night with, stay with” (see BDAG 964 s.v.). The difficulty with the first option is that it does not fit the context, and this meaning is not found elsewhere. The second option is difficult because of the singular number and the present tense. The third option is based on a spelling variation of συναυλιζόμενος (sunaulizomeno"), which some minuscules actually read here. The difference in meaning between (2) and (3) is not great, but (3) seems to fit the context somewhat better here.

[1:4]  ²⁶ tn Grk “ordered them”; the command “Do not leave” is not in Greek but is an indirect quotation in the original (see note at end of the verse for explanation).

[1:4]  ²⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:4]  ²⁸ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text (direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context).

[1:4]  ²⁹ tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[1:4]  ³⁰ tn Grk “for the promise of the Father.” Jesus is referring to the promised gift of the Holy Spirit (see the following verse).

[1:4]  ³¹ tn Grk “While he was with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for ‘what my Father promised, which you heard about from me.’” This verse moves from indirect to direct discourse. This abrupt change is very awkward, so the entire quotation has been rendered as direct discourse in the translation.

[2:4]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn The Greek term is γλώσσαις (glwssai"), the same word used for the tongues of fire.

[2:4]  ³⁴ 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.).

[2:33]  ³⁵ tn The aorist participle ὑψωθείς (Juywqei") could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…” In the translation the more neutral “exalted” (a shorter form of “having been exalted”) was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.

[2:33]  ³⁶ sn The expression the right hand of God represents supreme power and authority. Its use here sets up the quotation of Ps 110:1 in v. 34.

[2:33]  ³⁷ tn The aorist participle λαβών (labwn) could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…and received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit.” In the translation the more neutral “having received” was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.

[2:33]  ³⁸ tn Here the genitive τοῦ πνεύματος (tou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the promise consists of the Holy Spirit.

[2:33]  ³⁹ sn The use of the verb poured out looks back to 2:17-18, where the same verb occurs twice.

[2:34]  ⁴⁰ sn Sit at my right hand. The word “sit” alludes back to the promise of “seating one on his throne” in v. 30.

[2:35]  ⁴¹ sn The metaphor make your enemies a footstool portrays the complete subjugation of the enemies.

[2:35]  ⁴² sn A quotation from Ps 110:1, one of the most often-cited OT passages in the NT, pointing to the exaltation of Jesus.

[2:36]  ⁴³ tn Or “know for certain.” This term is in an emphatic position in the clause.

[2:36]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” The clause has been simplified in the translation by replacing the pronoun “him” with the explanatory clause “this Jesus whom you crucified” which comes at the end of the sentence.

[2:36]  ⁴⁵ sn Lord. This looks back to the quotation of Ps 110:1 and the mention of “calling on the Lord” in 2:21. Peter’s point is that the Lord on whom one calls for salvation is Jesus, because he is the one mediating God’s blessing of the Spirit as a sign of the presence of salvation and the last days.

[2:36]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “and Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:37]  ⁴⁷ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[2:37]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “they were pierced to the heart” (an idiom for acute emotional distress).

[2:38]  ⁴⁹ 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]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:38]  ⁵¹ 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]  ⁵² tn Here the genitive τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος (tou Jagiou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the gift consists of the Holy Spirit.

[4:8]  ⁵³ tn Grk “he led captive captivity.”

[4:8]  ⁵⁴ sn A quotation which is perhaps ultimately derived from Ps 68:18. However, the wording here differs from that of Ps 68 in both the Hebrew text and the LXX in a few places, the most significant of which is reading “gave gifts to” in place of “received gifts from” as in HT and LXX. It has sometimes been suggested that the author of Ephesians modified the text he was citing in order to better support what he wanted to say here. Such modifications are sometimes found in rabbinic exegesis from this and later periods, but it is also possible that the author was simply citing a variant of Ps 68 known to him but which has not survived outside its quotation here (W. H. Harris, The Descent of Christ [AGJU 32], 104). Another possibility is that the words here, which strongly resemble Ps 68:19 HT and LXX (68:18 ET), are actually part of an early Christian hymn quoted by the author.