Numbers 8:10

8:10 Then you are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on the Levites; ¹ 

Numbers 8:18

8:18 So I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn sons among the Israelites.

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; ²  and the Israelites listened to him and did just what the Lord had commanded Moses.

Matthew 19:13

Jesus and Little Children

19:13 Then little children were brought to him for him to lay his hands on them and pray. ³  But the disciples scolded those who brought them. ⁴ 

Matthew 19:15

19:15 And he placed his hands on them and went on his way. ⁵ 

Matthew 6:5

Private Prayer

6:5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues ⁶  and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.

Matthew 16:18

16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades ⁷  will not overpower it.

Luke 4:40

4:40 As the sun was setting, all those who had any relatives ⁸  sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus. ⁹  He placed ¹⁰  his hands on every one of them and healed them.

Luke 13:13

13:13 Then ¹¹  he placed his hands on her, and immediately ¹²  she straightened up and praised God.

Acts 6:6

6:6 They stood these men before the apostles, who prayed ¹³  and placed ¹⁴  their hands on them.

Acts 8:17-19

8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans, ¹⁵  and they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ 

8:18 Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit ¹⁷  was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them money, 8:19 saying, “Give me this power ¹⁸  too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 13:3

13:3 Then, after they had fasted ¹⁹  and ²⁰  prayed and placed their hands ²¹  on them, they sent them off.

Acts 13:1

The Church at Antioch Commissions Barnabas and Saul

13:1 Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: ²²  Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, ²³  Lucius the Cyrenian, ²⁴  Manaen (a close friend of Herod ²⁵  the tetrarch ²⁶  from childhood ²⁷ ) and Saul.

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 

[8:10]  ¹ sn The consecration ceremony was to be done in full view of the assembled people. In all probability the laying on of the hands was done through representatives of the tribes, and not all the people. This ritual of the imposition of hands showed that the people were taking part in the consecration, and that the Levites represented them in the service of the Lord.

[34:9]  ² sn See Num 27:18.

[19:13]  ³ tn Grk “so that he would lay his hands on them and pray.”

[19:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “the disciples scolded them.” In the translation the referent has been specified as “those who brought them,” since otherwise the statement could be understood to mean that the disciples scolded the children rather than their parents who brought them.

[19:15]  ⁵ tn Grk “went from there.”

[6:5]  ⁶ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[16:18]  ⁷ tn Or “and the power of death” (taking the reference to the gates of Hades as a metonymy).

[4:40]  ⁸ tn Grk “everyone, as many as had those being sick.” The use of εἶχον (eicon, “had”) suggests that the subject of the accusative participle ἀσθενοῦντας (asqenountas, “those being sick”) is not simply acquaintances, but rather relatives, perhaps immediate family, and certainly close friends.

[4:40]  ⁹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:40]  ¹⁰ tn Or “laid.” The participle ἐπιτεθείς (epiteqei") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[13:13]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[13:13]  ¹² sn The healing took place immediately.

[6:6]  ¹³ 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.

[6:6]  ¹⁴ tn Or “laid.”

[8:17]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the Samaritans) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:17]  ¹⁶ 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.

[8:18]  ¹⁷ 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.

[8:19]  ¹⁸ tn Or “ability”; Grk “authority.”

[13:3]  ¹⁹ 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.

[13:3]  ²⁰ 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.

[13:3]  ²¹ 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.

[13:1]  ²² sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[13:1]  ²³ sn Simeon may well have been from North Africa, since the Latin loanword Niger refers to someone as “dark-complexioned.”

[13:1]  ²⁴ sn The Cyrenian refers to a native of the city of Cyrene, on the coast of northern Africa west of Egypt.

[13:1]  ²⁵ sn Herod is generally taken as a reference to Herod Antipas, who governed Galilee from 4 b.c. to a.d. 39, who had John the Baptist beheaded, and who is mentioned a number of times in the gospels.

[13:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “the governor.”

[13:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “(a foster brother of Herod the tetrarch).” The meaning “close friend from childhood” is given by L&N 34.15, but the word can also mean “foster brother” (L&N 10.51). BDAG 976 s.v. σύντροφας states, “pert. to being brought up with someone, either as a foster-brother or as a companion/friend,” which covers both alternatives. Context does not given enough information to be certain which is the case here, although many modern translations prefer the meaning “close friend from childhood.”

[4:14]  ²⁸ tn Or “nothing to say in opposition.”

[5:22]  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).

[5:22]  ³⁰ tn The words “for them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[5:22]  ³¹ tn Grk “reported, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.