Chapter 1

[Rabbi Eric]

ACTS BY THE APOSTLES

The Promise of the Holy Spirit
   1.1. Indeed the first narrative I made concerning everything, O Theopholis,  which Jesus began to do and also to teach, 2. until that day He was taken up, after He gave orders to the apostles whom He had chosen by the Holy Spirit: 3. to whom He also presented Himself alive, by many convincing proofs, after He suffered, while He appeared to them for forty days and was saying these things about the kingdom of God: 4. and while He was staying with them, He ordered them “Do not go away from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which you heard from Me, 5. for John on the one hand baptized  in water, but you on the other hand will be baptized in the Holy Spirit after these not many days.”

The Ascension of Jesus
   1:6. Therefore indeed those who came asked Him saying, “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom in Israel at this time?”   7. But He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father set by His own authority, 8. but you will take power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the outermost part of the earth.”  9. And after He said these things, as they were watching, He was lifted up and a cloud bore Him up and away from their eyes.  10. And as they were looking intently into the sky at His going, then there were two men in white clothing  who stood by them, 11. and they said, “Men of Galilee, why have you stood looking into the sky?  This Jesus, Who, as He has been taken up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw Him going into the sky.”

The Choice of Judas’ Successor
   1:12. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain, called “Olive Grove,” which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath journey away.  13. And when they entered, they went up to the upper room in which they were staying, Peter and John and Jacob  and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, Jacob son of Alpheus, Simon the Zealot and Judas son of Jacob.   14. These were all waiting with one purpose in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.
   1:15. And in those days,  Peter got up in the middle among the believers. It was a crowd of about one hundred twenty people:  he said 16. “Men, brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit told beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those arresting Jesus, 17. because he was being numbered among us and received his portion of this service  by divine allotment.  18. Indeed then he obtained a piece of land  by means of the wages of his unrighteousness and after he fell headlong his middle burst apart  and all his inner parts were poured out: 19. and it became known to all those who were living in Jerusalem.  Therefore that field was to be called  Akeldama, which is Field of Blood.  20. ‘For it has been written in the book of Psalms,
   ‘Let his cottage become empty
      and let him not be the one who lives in it,’ (Ps 69:25)
   and, ‘Let another take his place as overseer.’ (Ps 109:8)
21. Therefore it is necessary for one of those men who have come together with us during the whole time in which the Lord Jesus came in and went out from among us,  22. beginning from the baptism  of John until the day on which He was taken up from us, a witness of His resurrection,  to become one of these apostles with us.”  23. And they placed two for selection, Joseph the one called Barsabbas who was surnamed Justos, and Matthias.  24. And when they prayed they said, “You Lord, because You know the hearts of all, show clearly whom You chose, one from these two 25. to take the place of this service and an apostleship from which Judas did turn aside to go into his own place where he belonged.”  26. And they gave out lots to them and the lot fell on Matthias and he was chosen to be added to the eleven apostles.
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  (Title) Written about 63-70 AD.
  (v.1) Theopholis means ‘loves God’ in Greek. Whether this letter is to a person named Theopholis or to believers is not clear, but the prevailing view is that it is to a person.
  (v.5) The word baptize is from the Greek word baptidzo, which means to immerse. See Baptize in Glossary.
  (v.5) The emphasis is that it will be very soon. It happened ten days after this, His ascension.
  (v.6) The Apostles expected the start of His reign right then!
  (v.10) White garments represent being in a state of spiritual preparedness, from Ecc 9:8, “Let your garments be always white; and let your head lack no ointment.”
  (v.11) When He comes again, “And His feet shall stand on that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in its midst toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall be moved toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” (Zch 14:4)
  (v.13) The Greek text has Iakob, which is Jacob in English.
  (v.13) Apparently these eleven stayed in this room.
  (v.15) This indicates a different time from the previous verses.
  (v.15) This is not in the upper room, which would not have held 120, but in some public place.
  (v.17) Or ministry, see Servant in Glossary.
  (v.18) The middle voice of this verb indicates he obtained the land for himself. How he did this and also threw money into the treasury is a mystery. See Mt 27:3, 7.
  (v.18) An article in Biblical Archeological Review held that this land was steep and when he hanged himself the rope broke and he fell some distance to the ground, breaking open.
  (v.19) The Greek text inserts the phrase, “in their own language,” which is a later addition.
  (v.21) See Disciple in Glossary.
  (v.22) The word baptism is from the Greek word baptisma, which means immersion.  Immersion had been a Jewish custom for over 1,000 years by the time of Jesus and was necessary for purification. See Baptize in Glossary.
  (v.22) See Resurrection in Glossary.