Atos 2

Peter’s proclamation

14 So Peter, standing with the eleven,*Many versions render ‘standing up’, as if Peter and the others had been sitting in the house all this time (did the crowd invade the house?). The basic meaning of the verb here is more like ‘standing still’ (stopping)—I take it that the Eleven had been mingling with the crowd too, but Peter now gathers them to form a nucleus upon which the crowd can focus its attention. raised his voice and proclaimed to them: "Men—Jews and all who are dwelling in Jerusalem—let this be known to you; indeed, listen to my speech! 15 Because these are not drunk, as you suppose (since it is only the third hour of the day), 16 but this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 ‘It will be in the last days, says God:

I will pour out from my Spirit upon all flesh;

your sons and your daughters will prophesy;

your young men will see visions;

your old men will dream a dream.*"Visions" is plural, but "dream" is singular, in the Text (albeit 15% of the Greek manuscripts do have ‘dreams’). When I was young I had all sorts of ‘visions’ of what I thought I was going to achieve in my lifetime. Now that I am old I am pretty well reduced to one ‘dream’. One’s focus must accompany his energy level. (My personal experience is probably not the intended meaning of the Text, but I am not sure what it might be—do all old men have the same dream?)

18 In those days I will indeed pour out from my Spirit upon my male slaves and upon my female slaves,

and they will prophesy.*As is typical in Hebrew, verse 18 repeats part of verse 17. Similarly, verse 20 complements verse19. I take it that verses 19 and 20 will be fulfilled during the Great Tribulation, literally, so it was verses 17 and 18 that were immediately applicable to what was happening there. So why did Peter quote the material in 19 and 20? Perhaps he (and the others) thought that ‘the day of the Lord’ had already started—so much so that no one went home; the believers stayed on in Jerusalem until the persecution sent them running (Acts 8:1).

19 I will show wonders in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below:

blood and fire and smoke vapor.

20 The sun will be turned into darkness

and the moon into ‘blood’

before the great and glorious day of the Lord will come.

21 And it will be: whoever calls on the name of the Lord*To call on the ‘name’ of the Lord is to call on Him. To ‘call’ on Him is to place yourself under His protection, which involves a recognition of His rulership.

will be saved!’

22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Natsorean,*‘Natsorean’, not ‘Nazarene’. The Text has ‘the’ Natsorean, the Branch-man (see Matthew 2:23 and Isaiah 11:1). In Acts 22:8 the glorified Jesus identifies Himself to Saul as ‘the Natsorean’, which Saul would understand as being the Messiah. a man from God attested to you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in your midst, as you yourselves well know,*Peter here addresses specifically the Israelites, presumably residents of Jerusalem and Judea, since they had been eyewitnesses of what Jesus did. 23 Him—being delivered up by the established purpose and foreknowledge of God—you murdered, having taken Him with lawless hands and crucified Him;*"You took with lawless hands"—‘take’ and ‘lawless’ clearly give the idea that they were responsible for their actions. "Being delivered up by the established purpose and foreknowledge of God" is a clear statement of God’s sovereignty in action. So here we have divine sovereignty and human responsibility side by side; they are both true, whether we understand it or not. (Less than 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit ‘having taken’.) 24 whom God raised up, ending the labor pains of death,*In Revelation 1:5 Jesus is called "the firstborn from among the dead". Death is pictured as a huge womb, pregnant with all the dead, and Jesus Christ was the first one out, literally the ‘firstborn’. Resurrection is the process by which one is ‘born’ out of physical death. The figure of death as a womb is strong, but effective. That ‘womb’ had been holding people for thousands of years, but now finally ‘gives birth’. (People like Lazarus who were returned to this life for a while had to die all over again; they have to wait for the resurrection like the rest of us.) because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him:

‘I always saw the Lord before my face,

because He is at my right side so that I not be shaken.*Nothing like having God at your side, literally, to give you confidence, but nothing like the awareness that He is looking at you to keep you in line! The quote is from Psalm 16:8-11.

26 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced.

Furthermore, even my flesh will repose upon hope,*I take it that the emphasis here is upon the physical body; Jesus' body was preserved from decay by divine intervention—there was no bad smell in the empty tomb. The resurrection accounts refer to the wrappings, but not to the 100 pounds of spices—I wonder what happened to them (you know, that much spice would be hard to ignore).

27 because You will not abandon my soul in Hades,*This is the other side of the coin: for the body not to see decay, it would have to be resurrected; but for resurrection to happen the soul must be reunited with the body, and therefore could not remain in Hades. David had no way of knowing that, so evidently wrote under divine inspiration.

nor will You allow Your Holy One to see decay.

28 You have made known to me roads of life;*Life, not death.

with Your presence You make me full of gladness.’*If you are a God-lover there is nothing like His presence to make you glad (on the other hand, for a God-hater that Presence is the worst thing in the universe [which is why a God-hater would rather be in hell than in heaven]).

29 "Men, brothers, be it permitted to speak to you plainly about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.*David was buried in Jerusalem, and evidently his tomb could still be identified at that time. 30 So then, he being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath that of the fruit, according to flesh,*Peter is being theologically precise here; David’s genes contributed only to the Messiah’s body, not to His soul and spirit. of his loins*The term rendered ‘loins’ when singular refers to the waist, where a belt is worn. When plural it was used to refer to the place of the reproductive organs—actually, the prostate gland is not all that far below the waist. He would raise up the Messiah*The Text, being Greek, has ‘Christ’, but king David spoke Hebrew and to him it was ‘Messiah’ (and Peter was presumably speaking in Hebrew). Peter makes the overt connection to Jesus in verse 32. Two percent of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit "according to flesh, He would raise up the Messiah" (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). to sit on his throne, 31 he foreseeing this*"He foreseeing this" is parallel to "he being a prophet" in verse 30. spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah, that His soul*Two percent of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit "His soul" (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). The omission weakens the point of the argument. was not abandoned in Hades, nor did His flesh see decay.*Peter’s reasoning is impressive, a prime instance of illumination. (By ‘illumination’ we mean divine assistance in interpreting divinely inspired writing. ‘Inspiration’ attaches to the writing, ‘illumination’ attaches to the interpretation of inspired writing.)

32 "This Jesus God raised, to which we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore, having been exalted to God’s right hand, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this that you now see and hear. 34 Further, David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says:

‘The Lord said to my Lord:*Peter was there when Jesus used this text to silence the Pharisees (Matthew 22:41-46).

Sit at my right hand

35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’

36 Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified!"*Nothing like making sure your audience gets the point! But why "both Lord and Christ"? Perhaps there were a variety of ideas about the ‘Messiah’ out there and Peter nails down His identity as the Lord.

The reaction

37 Now upon hearing this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter, and the rest of the Apostles, "Men, brothers, what shall we do?!" 38 So Peter said to them: "Repent and be baptized, each one of you, upon the name of Jesus Christ,*This is the first use of the title, Jesus Christ, after the Gospels; the Lord had Himself inaugurated the title fifty days before (John 17:3)—it affirms that Jesus is the Messiah. Anyone being baptized upon that name would be publicly declaring allegiance to Jesus as the Messiah. Notice that Peter promises forgiveness of sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit to any who enter into that commitment. for forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far away*I assume that "all who are far away" is a reference to Gentiles, and the promise applies only to the ‘called’.—as many, that is, as the Lord our God may call." 40 With many different words he both testified and kept exhorting, saying, "Escape from this perverse generation!"*The ‘generation’ in question was the one that had crucified the Messiah. By being baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ they would be formally disassociating themselves from that generation, and the judgment that was coming upon it. The worst curse in all human history is recorded in Matthew 27:25, "And all the people answered and said, ‘His blood be on us and on our children’." Terrible, terrible, terrible—just terrible! (The persecutions later sent them scattering and probably very few were in Jerusalem when it was destroyed in AD 70.)

41 Then those who gladly*Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit "gladly" (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). The word is significant and should not be omitted on such flimsy evidence. It emphasizes sincerity and commitment. received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added.