translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ACT

label: NET study note

text: All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8 , it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.


text: Made loud lamentation. For someone who was stoned to death, lamentation was normally not allowed ( m. Sanhedrin 6:6). The remark points to an unjust death.


text: The expression unclean spirits refers to evil supernatural spirits which were ceremonially unclean , and which caused the persons possessed by them to be ceremonially unclean.


text: Great joy. The reason for eschatological joy was that such events pointed to God’s decisive deliverance ( Luke 7:22-23 ). Note how the acts of healing extend beyond the Twelve here.


text: The kingdom of God is also what Jesus preached: Acts 1:3 . The term reappears in 14:22; 19:8; 28:23, 31 .


text: He was amazed. Now Simon, the one who amazed others, is himself amazed , showing the superiority of Philip’s connection to God. Christ is better than anything the culture has to offer.


text: They sent. The Jerusalem church with the apostles was overseeing the expansion of the church, as the distribution of the Spirit indicates in vv. 15-17 .


text: This is a parenthetical note by the author.


text: 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 .


text: The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1 , Isa 1:10 , Jonah 1:1 ). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου ( rJhma tou kuriou ; Luke 22:61 , Acts 11:16 , 1 Pet 1:25 ) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου ( logo" tou kuriou ; here and in Acts 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20 ; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15 ; 2 Thess 3:1 ). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.


text: By proclaiming the good news to many Samaritan villages , the apostles now actively share in the broader ministry the Hellenists had started.


text: The term eunuch normally referred to a man who had been castrated, but this was not always the case (see Gen 39:1 LXX, where Potiphar is called a eunuch). Such castrated individuals were preferred as court officials in the East, although Judaism opposed the practice. The Mosaic law excluded eunuchs from Israel ( Deut 23:1 ), although God certainly accepted them ( Isa 56:3-5 ; Wis 3:14). This individual was a high official, since he was said to be in charge of all her treasury . He may or may not have been a eunuch physically. He appears to be the first fully Gentile convert to Christianity, since the Samaritans mentioned previously ( Acts 8:4-25 ) were regarded as half-breeds.


text: Since this man had come to Jerusalem to worship , he may have been a proselyte to Judaism. This event is a precursor to .


text: A quotation from Isa 53:7-8 .


text: About himself, or about someone else? It is likely in 1st century Judaism this would have been understood as either Israel or Isaiah.


text: Beginning with this scripture. The discussion likely included many of the scriptures Acts has already noted for the reader in earlier speeches. At the least, readers of Acts would know what other scriptures might be meant.


text: Philip baptized. Again, someone beyond the Twelve has ministered an ordinance of faith.


text: Note that the response to the gospel is rejoicing (joy, cf. Acts 11:23; 13:48 ).


text: Azotus was a city on the coast of southern Palestine, known as Ashdod in OT times.


text: Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1 . map For location see Map2-C1 ; Map4-B3 ; Map5-F2 ; Map7-A1 ; JP1-F4 ; JP2-F4 ; JP3-F4 ; JP4-F4 .