Commentary on the Book of Acts - Bible Study …

1 Commentary on the book of Acts Bible Study Notes and Comments by David E. Pratte Available in print at Commentary on Acts Page #2 Commentary on the book of Acts: Bible Study Notes and Comments Copyright David E. Pratte, 2011, 2013 Minor revisions 2016 All rights reserved ISBN-13: 978-1492840312 ISBN-10: 1492840319 Note carefully: No teaching in any of our materials is in-tended or should ever be construed to justify or to in any way incite or encourage personal vengeance or physical violence against any person. Front page photo The Mount of Olives from which Jesus ascended back to heaven Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight .. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Acts 1:9,12 (NKJV). Photo Credit: Nemo distributed under Creative Commons license, via Wikimedia Commons Other Acknowledgements Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are generally from the New King James Version (NKJV), copyright 1982, 1988 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

2 Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are from Holy Bible , New Amer-ican Standard La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995. Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible , English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing min-istry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (MLV) are from Modern Literal Version of The New Testament, Copyright 1999 by G. Allen Walker. Scripture quotations marked (RSV) are from the Revised Standard Ver-sion of the Bible , copyright 1952 by the Division of Christian Education, Na-tional Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the New International Version of the Holy Bible , copyright 1978 by Zondervan Bible publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Page #3 Commentary on Acts Other Books by the Author Topical Bible Studies Growing a Godly Marriage & Raising Godly Children Why Believe in God, Jesus, and the Bible ?

3 (evidences) The God of the Bible ( Study of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) Grace, Faith, and Obedience: The Gospel or Calvinism? Kingdom of Christ: Future Millennium or Present Spiritual Reign? Do Not Sin Against the Child: Abortion, Unborn Life, & the Bible True Words of God: Bible Inspiration and Preservation Commentaries on Bible Books Genesis Joshua and Ruth Judges 1 Samuel Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther Job Proverbs Gospel of Mark Gospel of John Acts Romans Ephesians Philippians and Colossians Hebrews 1 & 2 Peter Bible Question Class Books Genesis Joshua and Ruth Judges 1 Samuel Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther Job Proverbs Ecclesiastes Isaiah Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Mark Gospel of Luke Gospel of John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians and Galatians Ephesians and Philippians Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon Hebrews General Epistles (James Jude) Revelation Workbooks with Study Notes Jesus Is Lord: Workbook on the Fundamentals of the Gospel of Christ Following Jesus: Workbook on Discipleship God s Eternal Purpose in Christ.

4 Workbook on the Theme of the Bible Visit our website at to see a current list of books in print. Commentary on Acts Page #4 Other Resources from the Author Printed books, booklets, and tracts available at Free Bible Study articles online at Free Bible courses online at Free class books at Free commentaries on Bible books at Contact the author at Page #5 Commentary on Acts Table of Contents Introduction to the book of Acts .. 9 Acts 1 .. 18 Acts 2 .. 31 Acts 3 .. 62 Acts 4 .. 74 Acts 5 .. 92 Acts 6 .. 105 Acts 7 .. 118 Acts 8 .. 140 Acts 9 .. 156 Acts 10 .. 175 Acts 11 .. 192 Acts 12 .. 205 Acts 13 .. 213 Acts 14 .. 230 Acts 15 .. 241 Acts 16 .. 262 Acts 17 .. 276 Acts 18 .. 291 Acts 19 ..300 Acts 20 .. 311 Acts 21 .. 333 Acts 22 .. 343 Acts 23 .. 352 Acts 24 .. 359 Acts 25 .. 369 Acts 26 .. 375 Acts 27 .. 383 Acts 28 .. 391 (Due to printer reformatting, the above numbers may be off a few pages.) Commentary on Acts Page #6 Notes to the Reader To save space and for other reasons, I have chosen not to include the Bible text in these notes (please use your Bible to follow along).

5 When I do quote a Scripture, I generally quote the New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated. Often especially when I do not use quota-tions marks I am not quoting any translation but simply paraphrasing the passage in my own words. Also, when I ask the reader to refer to a map, please consult the maps at the back of your Bible or in a Bible dic-tionary. You can find Study questions to accompany these notes at To join our mailing list to be informed of new books or special sales, contact the author at Page #7 Commentary on Acts Introductory Thoughts about Commentaries Only the Scriptures provide an infallible, authoritatively inspired revelation of God s will for man (2 Timothy 3:16,17). It follows that this Commentary , like all commentaries, was written by an uninspired, falli-ble human. It is the author s effort to share his insights about God s word for the purpose of instructing and edifying others in the knowledge and wisdom found in Scripture.

6 It is simply another form of teaching, like public preaching, Bible class teaching, etc., except in written form (like tracts, Bible class literature, etc.). Nehemiah 8:8; Ephesians 4:15,16; Ro-mans 15:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:12-14; 5:12-14; 10:23-25; Romans 10:17; Mark 16:15,16; Acts 8:4; 2 Timothy 2:2,24-26; 4:2-4; 1 Peter 3:15. It follows that the student must read any Commentary with discern-ment, realizing that any fallible teacher may err, whether he is teaching orally or in writing. So, the student must compare all spiritual teaching to the truth of God s word (Acts 17:11). It may be wise to read several commentaries to consider alternative views on difficult points. But it is especially important to consider the reasons or evidence each author gives for his views, then compare them to the Bible . For these reasons, the author urges the reader to always consider my comments in light of Scripture.

7 Accept what I say only if you find that it harmonizes with God s word. And please do not cite my writings as authority, as though people should accept anything I say as authoritative. Always let the Bible be your authority. He who glories, let him glory in the Lord 1 Corinthians 1:31 Commentary on Acts Page #8 Abbreviations Used in These Notes ASV American Standard Version b/c/v book , chapter, and verse ESV English Standard Version f the following verse ff the following verses KJV King James Version NASB New American Standard Bible NEB New English Bible NIV New International Version NKJV New King James Version RSV Revised Standard Version Page #9 Commentary on Acts Introduction to the book of Acts Helpful tools for Study The following tools will be helpful in this Study . Most can be ob-tained from a good religious bookstore. 1. A good Study Bible We recommend the following features: * NKJV, KJV, ASV, or NASB.

8 (We do not recommend loose transla-tions or one-man translations.) * Good cross-references. * A good binding, preferably genuine leather. 2. A good analytical or exhaustive concordance We recommend one of the following: * Strong s Exhaustive Concordance, or * Young s Analytical Concordance A shorter abridged concordance may work, but will not contain all the words or all the references you may need. Some computer software or websites provide good Bible concord-ance and search routines. 3. Other useful books The following books may be helpful, but are not as essential as the previous materials. * Vine s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, by W. E. Vine * Bible Dictionary, such as New International Dictionary of the Bi-ble by Zondervan s or New Smith s Bible Dictionary Basic Facts about Acts Author The book nowhere directly states what man recorded the inspired words. However, it is generally agreed to be the work of Luke for the fol-lowing reasons: Commentary on Acts Page #10 (1) The author of Acts had written a former account of the life of Jesus (1:1,2).

9 This would indicate it was Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. (2) Both Acts and Luke are addressed to Theophilus ( lover of God compare Luke 1:1-4 to Acts 1:1). The introductions are similar in other ways as well. (3) Acts, in the original language, contains several terms which were characteristically used by physicians, and Luke was a physician (Colos-sians 4:14). (4) The text passes from third person ( they ) to first person ( we ) and back again repeatedly when describing some of Paul s travels. These changes would indicate that the author was one of Paul s traveling com-panions, which Luke was (Colossians 4:14; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philem. 24). Further, the author does not name himself but uses we. So it appears that the author is a traveling companion who is nowhere named in Acts. The companions other than Luke are nearly all named in Acts, so this also seems to confirm that Luke was the author. Also, the changes in person logically agree with the times when Luke seems to join or leave the group.

10 (Ex.: Acts 16:6-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:2-28:16). Horne states: That Saint Luke was the author of the Acts of the Apostles, as well as of the Gospel which bears his name, is evident both from the introduction, and from the unanimous testimonies of the early Christians.. To the genuineness and authenticity of this book , the early Christian fathers bear unanimous testimony. Theme Acts is a history of the early church and of the spread of the gospel (note 1:8). It is not a record of all of the acts of all of the apostles, but of just some of the acts of some of the apostles. Date The book ends with Paul in prison in Rome for the first time. His subsequent history is not recorded, which would indicate the book was written before that history was known. This would date it about 62-64 AD. Summary by Sections (see Acts 1:8) The spread of the gospel in Jerusalem (chapters 1-7) The spread of the gospel in Judea & Samaria (chapters 8-12) The spread of the gospel throughout the earth (chapters 13-28) Benefits of studying this history 1.