KJV: Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
YLT: And having heard, they were pricked to the heart; they say also to Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, 'What shall we do, men, brethren?'
Darby: And having heard it they were pricked in heart, and said to Peter and the other apostles, What shall we do, brethren?
ASV: Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do?
The Holy Spirit used Peter"s sermon to bring conviction, as Jesus had predicted ( John 16:8-11). He convicted Peter"s hearers of the truth of what he said and of their guilt in rejecting Jesus. Their question arose from this two-fold response. [source][source][source]
Notice the full meaning of their question. These were Jews who had been waiting expectantly for the Messiah to appear. Peter had just explained convincingly that He had come, but the Jewish nation had rejected God"s anointed King. Jesus had gone back to heaven. What would happen to the nation over which He was to rule? What were the Jews to do? Their question did not just reflect their personal dilemma but the fate of their nation. What should they do in view of this terrible situation nationally as well as personally?[source]
Context Summary
Acts 2:37-47 - Pentecostal Days
There were no exceptions in Peter's great appeal for repentance. Every one of you! he declared. "But I drove the nails into His hands." Every one of you! he insists. "But I pierced His side." Every one! says the Apostle again. And from this motley crowd arose the primitive Church. Notice that those who had gone deep into sin are not required to serve a long novitiate between forgiveness and the gift of Pentecost. In Acts 2:38 the two are combined. Notice also Acts 2:39. Not only Jews, but far-off Gentiles-nay, as many as God shall call by His inward speech and grace, are welcome to receive the fullness of the Spirit. Have you received it?
The italics, unto them, in Acts 2:41 had better be unto Him. The adding was primarily to Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 8:5. From the teaching of the Apostles these new believers stepped up into fellowship with them, because, when we are joined to Christ, we become one with all who are his. They still met in the Temple, standing there as one vast host, and seeing a new significance in the ancient rites. Their homes and daily meals were also raised to a new level; and every day there were additions of those who had experienced Christ's saving power. [source]
Chapter Summary: Acts 2
1The apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, and speaking various languages, 12are admired by some, and derided by others; 14whom Peter disproves; 37he baptizes a great number who were converted; 41who afterwards devoutly and charitably converse together; 43the apostles working many miracles, 46and God daily increasing his church
Greek Commentary for Acts 2:37
They were pricked in their heart [κατενυγησαν την καρδιαν] Second aorist indicative of κατανυσσω katanussō a rare verb (lxx) to pierce, to sting sharply, to stun, to smite. Homer used it of horses dinting the earth with their hoofs. The substantive κατανυχις katanuxis occurs in Romans 11:8. Here only in the N.T. It is followed here by the accusative of the part affected, the heart. [source]
What shall we do? [Τι ποιησωμεν] Deliberative subjunctive first aorist active. The sermon went home, they felt the sting of Peter‘s words, compunction Codex Bezae adds: “Show us.” [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 2:37
Matthew 16:18Thou art Peter [οὺ εἶ Πέτρος] Christ responds to Peter's emphatic thou with another, equally emphatic. Peter says, “Thou art the Christ.” Christ replies, “Thou art Peter.” Πέτρος (Peter ) is used as a proper name, but without losing its meaning as a common noun. The name was bestowed on Simon at his first interview with Jesus (John 1:42) under the form of its Aramaic equivalent, CephasIn this passage attention is called, not to the giving of the name, but to its meaning. In classical Greek the word means a piece of rock, as in Homer, of Ajax throwing a stone at Hector (“Iliadvii., 270), or of Patroclus grasping and hiding in his hand a jagged stone (“Iliadxvi., 784).On this rock ( ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέρᾳ )The word is feminine, and means a rock, as distinguished from a stone or a fragment of rock ( πέτρος , above). Used of a ledge of rocks or a rocky peak. In Homer (“Odyssey,” ix., 243), the rock ( πέτρην ) which Polyphemus places at the door of his cavern, is a mass which two-and-twenty wagons could not remove; and the rock which he hurled at the retreating ships of Ulysses, created by its fall a wave in the sea which drove the ships back toward the land (“Odyssey,” ix., 484). The word refers neither to Christ as a rock, distinguished from Simon, a stone, nor to Peter's confession, but to Peter himself, in a sense defined by his previous confession, and as enlightened by the “Father in Heaven.” The reference of πέτρα to Christ is forced and unnatural. The obvious reference of the word is to Peter. The emphatic this naturally refers to the nearest antecedent; and besides, the metaphor is thus weakened, since Christ appears here, not as the foundation, but as the architect: “On this rock will I build.” Again, Christ is the great foundation, the “chief corner-stone,” but the New Testament writers recognize no impropriety in applying to the members of Christ's church certain terms which are applied to him. For instance, Peter himself (1 Peter 2:4), calls Christ a living stone, and, in 1 Peter 2:5, addresses the church as living stones. In Revelation 21:14, the names of the twelve apostles appear in the twelve foundation-stones of the heavenly city; and in Ephesians 2:20, it is said, “Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (i.e., laid by the apostles and prophets), Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.” Equally untenable is the explanation which refers πέτρα to Simon's confession. Both the play upon the words and the natural reading of the passage are against it, and besides, it does not conform to the fact, since the church is built, not on confessions, but on confessors - living men. “The word πέτρα ,” says Edersheim, “was used in the same sense in Rabbinic language. According to the Rabbins, when God was about to build his world, he could not rear it on the generation of Enos, nor on that of the flood, who brought destruction upon the world; but when he beheld that Abraham would arise in the future, he said' 'Behold, I have found a rock to build on it, and to found the world,' whence, also, Abraham is called a rock, as it is said' 'Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn.' The parallel between Abraham and Peter might be carried even further. If, from a misunderstanding of the Lord's promise to Peter, later Christian legend represented the apostle as sitting at the gate of heaven, Jewish legend represents Abraham as sitting at the gate of Gehenna, so as to prevent all who had the seal of circumcision from falling into its abyss” (“Life and Times of Jesus”). The reference to Simon himself is confirmed by the actual relation of Peter to the early church, to the Jewish portion of which he was a foundation-stone. See Acts, Acts 1:15; Acts 2:14,Acts 2:37; Acts 3:12; Acts 4:8; Acts 5:15,Acts 5:29; Acts 9:34,Acts 9:40; Acts 10:25,Acts 10:26; Galatians 1:15.Church ( ἐκκλησίαν ) ἐκ out, καλέω , to call or summon. This is the first occurrence of this word in the New Testament. Originally an assembly of citizens, regularly summoned. So in New Testament, Acts 19:39. The Septuagint uses the word for the congregation of Israel, either as summoned for a definite purpose (Acts 7:38); but for this there is more commonly employed συναγωγή , of which synagogue is a transcription; σύν , together, ἄγω , to bring (Acts 13:43). In Christ's words to Peter the word ἐκκλησία acquires special emphasis from the opposition implied in it to the synagogue. The Christian community in the midst of Israel would be designated as ἐκκλησία , without being confounded with the συναγωγή , the Jewish community. See Acts 5:11; Acts 8:1; Acts 12:1; Acts 14:23,Acts 14:27, etc. Nevertheless συναγωγή is applied to a Christian assembly in James 2:2, while ἐπισυναγωγή (gathering or assembling together ) is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1; Hebrews 10:25. Both in Hebrew and in New Testament usage ἐκκλησία implies more than a collective or national unity; rather a community based on a special religious idea and established in a special way. In the New Testament the term is used also in the narrower sense of a single church, or a church confined to a particular place. So of the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (Romans 16:5); the church at Corinth, the churches in Judea, the church at Jerusalem, etc.Gates of hell ( πύλαι ᾅδου )Rev., Hades. Hades was originally the name of the god who presided over the realm of the dead - Pluto or Dis. Hence the phrase, house of Hades. It is derived from ἀ , not, and; ἰδεῖν , to see; and signifies, therefore, the invisible land, the realm of shadow. It is the place to which all who depart this life descend, without reference to their moral character. By this word the Septuagint translated the Hebrew Sheol, which has a similar general meaning. The classical Hades embraced both good and bad men, though divided into Elysium, the abode of the virtuous, and Tartarus, the abode of the wicked. In these particulars it corresponds substantially with Sheol; both the godly and the wicked being represented as gathered into the latter. See Genesis 42:38; Psalm 9:17; Psalm 139:8; Isaiah 14:9; Isaiah 57:2; Ezekiel 32:27; Hosea 13:14. Hades and Sheol were alike conceived as a definite place, lower than the world. The passage of both good and bad into it was regarded as a descent. The Hebrew conception is that of a place of darkness; a cheerless home of a dull, joyless, shadowy life. See Psalm 6:5; Psalm 94:17; Psalm 115:17; Psalm 88:5,Psalm 88:6,Psalm 88:10; Job 10:21; Job 3:17-19; Job 14:10,Job 14:11; Ecclesiastes 9:5. Vagueness is its characteristic. In this the Hebrew's faith appears bare in contrast with that of the Greek and Roman. The pagan poets gave the popular mind definite pictures of Tartarus and Elysium; of Styx and Acheron; of happy plains where dead heroes held high discourse, and of black abysses where offenders underwent strange and ingenious tortures. There was, indeed, this difference between the Hebrew and the Pagan conceptions; that to the Pagan, Hades was the final home of its tenants, while Sheol was a temporary condition. Hence the patriarchs are described (Hebrews 11:16) as looking for a better, heavenly country; and the martyrs as enduring in hope of “a better resurrection.” Prophecy declared that the dead should arise and sing, when Sheol itself should be destroyed and its inmates brought forth, some to everlasting life, and others to shame and contempt (Isaiah 26:19; Hosea 13:14; Daniel 12:2). Paul represents this promise as made to the fathers by God, and as the hope of his countrymen (Acts 26:7). God was the God of the dead as well as of the living; present in the dark chambers of Sheol as well as in heaven (Psalm 139:8; Psalm 16:10). This is the underlying thought of that most touching and pathetic utterance of Job (Job 14:13-15), in which he breathes the wish that God would hide him with loving care in Hades, as a place of temporary concealment, where he will wait patiently, standing like a sentinel at his post, awaiting the divine voice calling him to a new and happier life. This, too, is the thought of the familiar and much-disputed passage, Job 19:23-27. His Redeemer, vindicator, avenger, shall arise after he shall have passed through the shadowy realm of Sheol. “A judgment in Hades, in which the judge will show himself his friend, in which all the tangled skein of his life will be unravelled by wise and kindly hands, and the insoluble problem of his strange and self-contradicting experience will at last be solved - this is what Job still looks for on that happy day when he shall see God for himself, and find his Goel (vindicator) in that Almighty Deliverer” (Cox, “Commentary on the Book of Job”). In the New Testament, Hades is the realm of the dead. It cannot be successfully maintained that it is, in particular, the place for sinners (so Cremer, “Biblico-Theological Lexicon”). The words about Capernaum (Matthew 11:23), which it is surprising to find Cremer citing in support of this position, are merely a rhetorical expression of a fall from the height of earthly glory to the deepest degradation, and have no more bearing upon the moral character of Hades than the words of Zophar (Job 11:7,Job 11:8) about the perfection of the Almighty. “It is high as heaven - deeper than Sheol. ” Hades is indeed coupled with Death (Revelation 1:18; Revelation 6:8; Revelation 20:13,Revelation 20:14), but the association is natural, and indeed inevitable, apart from all moral distinctions. Death would naturally be followed by Hades in any case. In Revelation 20:13,Revelation 20:14, the general judgment is predicted, and not only Death and Hades, but the sea give tip their dead, and only those who are not written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). The rich man was in Hades (Luke 16:23), and in torments, but Lazarus was also in Hades, “in Abraham's bosom.” The details of this story “evidently represent the views current at the time among the Jews. According to them, the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life were the abode of the blessed. We read that the righteous in Eden see the wicked in Gehenna and rejoice; and similarly, that the wicked in Gehenna see the righteous sitting beatified in Eden, and their souls are troubled (Edersheim, “Life and Times of Jesus”). Christ also was in Hades (Acts 2:27,Acts 2:31). Moreover, the word γέεννα , hell (see on Matthew 5:22), is specially used to denote the place of future punishment. Hades, then, in the New Testament, is a broad and general conception, with an idea of locality bound up with it. It is the condition following death, which is blessed or the contrary, according to the moral character of the dead, and is therefore divided into different realms, represented by Paradise or Abraham's bosom, and Gehenna. The expression Gates of Hades is an orientalism for the court, throne, power, and dignity of the infernal kingdom. Hades is contemplated as a mighty city, with formidable, frowning portals. Some expositors introduce also the idea of the councils of the Satanic powers, with reference to the Eastern custom of holding such deliberations in the gates of cities. Compare the expression Sublime Porte, applied to the Ottoman court. The idea of a building is maintained in both members of the comparison. The kingdom or city of Hades confronts and assaults the church which Christ will build upon the rock. See Job 38:17; Psalm 9:13; Psalm 107:18; Isaiah 38:10. [source]
John 14:1Heart [καρδία] Never used in the New Testament, as in the Septuagint, of the mere physical organ, though sometimes of the vigor and sense of physical life (Acts 14:17; James 5:5; Luke 21:34). Generally, the center of our complex being - physical, moral, spiritual, and intellectual. See on Mark 12:30. The immediate organ by which man lives his personal life, and where that entire personal life concentrates itself. It is thus used sometimes as parallel to ψυχή , the individual life, and to πνεῦμα theprinciple of life, which manifests itself in the ψυχή . Strictly, καρδία is the immediate organ of ψυχή , occupying a mediating position between it and πνεῦμα . In the heart ( καρδία ) the spirit ( πνεῦμα ), which is the distinctive principle of the life or soul ( ψυχή ), has the seat of its activity. Emotions of joy or sorrow are thus ascribed both to the heart and to the soul. Compare John 14:27, “Let not your heart ( καρδιά ) be troubled;” and John 12:27, “Now is my soul ( ψυχή ) troubled.” The heart is the focus of the religious life (Matthew 22:37; Luke 6:45; 2 Timothy 2:22). It is the sphere of the operation of grace (Matthew 13:19; Luke 8:15; Luke 24:32; Acts 2:37; Romans 10:9,Romans 10:10). Also of the opposite principle (John 13:2; Acts 5:3). Used also as the seat of the understanding; the faculty of intelligence as applied to divine things (Matthew 13:15; Romans 1:21; Mark 8:17). [source]
Acts 5:33Were cut to the heart [διεπριοντο] Imperfect passive of διαπριω diapriō old verb Here it is rage that cuts into their hearts, not conviction of sin as in Acts 2:37. Only here and Acts 7:54 (after Stephen‘s speech) in the N.T. (cf. Simeon‘s prophecy in Luke 2:35). [source]
Romans 11:8Slumber [κατανύξεως] Heb., deep sleep. Only here in the New Testament. Lit., pricking or piercing, compunction. Compare the kindred verb κατενύγησαν werepricked, Acts 2:37. Rev. renders stupor, the secondary meaning; properly the stupefaction following a wound or blow. [source]
Romans 11:8A spirit of stupor [πνευμα κατανυχεως] The quotation is a combination of Deuteronomy 19:4; Isaiah 29:10; Isaiah 6:9. This phrase is from Isaiah 29:10. Κατανυχις Katanuxis is a late and rare word from κατανυσσω katanussō to prick or stick (Acts 2:37), in lxx, here only in N.T., one example in Pelagia-Legende. The torpor seems the result of too much sensation, dulled by incitement into apathy. [source]
1 Thessalonians 1:4Beloved by God [ηγαπημενοι υπο του τεου] Perfect passive participle of αγαπαω agapaō the verb so common in the N.T. for the highest kind of love. Paul is not content with the use of αδελποι adelphoi here (often in this Epistle as 1 Thessalonians 2:1,1 Thessalonians 2:14,1 Thessalonians 2:17; 1 Thessalonians 3:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:1,1 Thessalonians 4:10), but adds this affectionate phrase nowhere else in the N.T. in this form (cf. Judges 1:3) though in Sirach 45:1 and on the Rosetta Stone. But in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 he quotes “beloved by the Lord” from Deuteronomy 33:12. The use of αδελποι adelphoi for members of the same brotherhood can be derived from the Jewish custom (Acts 2:29,Acts 2:37) and the habit of Jesus (Matthew 12:48) and is amply illustrated in the papyri for burial clubs and other orders and guilds (Moulton and Milligan‘s Vocabulary). Your election (την εκλογην υμων tēn eklogēn humōn). That is the election of you by God. It is an old word from εκλεγομαι eklegomai used by Jesus of his choice of the twelve disciples (John 15:16) and by Paul of God‘s eternal selection (Ephesians 1:4). The word εκλογη eklogē is not in the lxx and only seven times in the N.T. and always of God‘s choice of men (Acts 9:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; Romans 9:11; Romans 11:5,Romans 11:7,Romans 11:8; 2 Peter 1:10). The divine εκλογη eklogē was manifested in the Christian qualities of 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (Moffatt). [source]
1 Peter 3:16That they may be put to shame [ινα καταισχυντωσιν] Purpose clause with ινα hina and the first aorist passive subjunctive of καταισχυνω kataischunō old verb, to put to shame (Luke 13:17; 1 Peter 2:6).Wherein ye are spoken against (εν ωι καταλαλειστε en hōi katalaleisthe). Present passive indicative of καταλαλεω katalaleō for which see 1 Peter 2:12 with εν ωι en hōi also. Peter may be recalling (Hart) his own experience at Pentecost when the Jews first scoffed and others were cut to the heart (Acts 2:13,Acts 2:37).Who revile Articular present active participle of επηρεαζω epēreazō old verb (from επηρεια epēreia spiteful abuse), to insult, in N.T. only here and Luke 6:28.In Christ (εν Χριστωι en Christōi). Paul‘s common mystical phrase that Peter has three times (here, 1 Peter 5:10,1 Peter 5:14), not in John, though the idea is constantly in John. Peter here gives a new turn (cf. 1 Peter 2:12) to αναστροπη anastrophē (manner of life). “Constantly the apostle repeats his phrases with new significance and in a new light” (Bigg). [source]
1 Peter 3:16Wherein ye are spoken against [εν ωι καταλαλειστε] Present passive indicative of καταλαλεω katalaleō for which see 1 Peter 2:12 with εν ωι en hōi also. Peter may be recalling (Hart) his own experience at Pentecost when the Jews first scoffed and others were cut to the heart (Acts 2:13,Acts 2:37). [source]
What do the individual words in Acts 2:37 mean?
Having heardthenthey were piercedto theheartthey saidthento-PeterandtheotherapostlesWhatshall we domenbrothers
Greek Commentary for Acts 2:37
Second aorist indicative of κατανυσσω katanussō a rare verb (lxx) to pierce, to sting sharply, to stun, to smite. Homer used it of horses dinting the earth with their hoofs. The substantive κατανυχις katanuxis occurs in Romans 11:8. Here only in the N.T. It is followed here by the accusative of the part affected, the heart. [source]
Deliberative subjunctive first aorist active. The sermon went home, they felt the sting of Peter‘s words, compunction Codex Bezae adds: “Show us.” [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 2:37
Christ responds to Peter's emphatic thou with another, equally emphatic. Peter says, “Thou art the Christ.” Christ replies, “Thou art Peter.” Πέτρος (Peter ) is used as a proper name, but without losing its meaning as a common noun. The name was bestowed on Simon at his first interview with Jesus (John 1:42) under the form of its Aramaic equivalent, CephasIn this passage attention is called, not to the giving of the name, but to its meaning. In classical Greek the word means a piece of rock, as in Homer, of Ajax throwing a stone at Hector (“Iliadvii., 270), or of Patroclus grasping and hiding in his hand a jagged stone (“Iliadxvi., 784).On this rock ( ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέρᾳ )The word is feminine, and means a rock, as distinguished from a stone or a fragment of rock ( πέτρος , above). Used of a ledge of rocks or a rocky peak. In Homer (“Odyssey,” ix., 243), the rock ( πέτρην ) which Polyphemus places at the door of his cavern, is a mass which two-and-twenty wagons could not remove; and the rock which he hurled at the retreating ships of Ulysses, created by its fall a wave in the sea which drove the ships back toward the land (“Odyssey,” ix., 484). The word refers neither to Christ as a rock, distinguished from Simon, a stone, nor to Peter's confession, but to Peter himself, in a sense defined by his previous confession, and as enlightened by the “Father in Heaven.” The reference of πέτρα to Christ is forced and unnatural. The obvious reference of the word is to Peter. The emphatic this naturally refers to the nearest antecedent; and besides, the metaphor is thus weakened, since Christ appears here, not as the foundation, but as the architect: “On this rock will I build.” Again, Christ is the great foundation, the “chief corner-stone,” but the New Testament writers recognize no impropriety in applying to the members of Christ's church certain terms which are applied to him. For instance, Peter himself (1 Peter 2:4), calls Christ a living stone, and, in 1 Peter 2:5, addresses the church as living stones. In Revelation 21:14, the names of the twelve apostles appear in the twelve foundation-stones of the heavenly city; and in Ephesians 2:20, it is said, “Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (i.e., laid by the apostles and prophets), Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.” Equally untenable is the explanation which refers πέτρα to Simon's confession. Both the play upon the words and the natural reading of the passage are against it, and besides, it does not conform to the fact, since the church is built, not on confessions, but on confessors - living men. “The word πέτρα ,” says Edersheim, “was used in the same sense in Rabbinic language. According to the Rabbins, when God was about to build his world, he could not rear it on the generation of Enos, nor on that of the flood, who brought destruction upon the world; but when he beheld that Abraham would arise in the future, he said' 'Behold, I have found a rock to build on it, and to found the world,' whence, also, Abraham is called a rock, as it is said' 'Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn.' The parallel between Abraham and Peter might be carried even further. If, from a misunderstanding of the Lord's promise to Peter, later Christian legend represented the apostle as sitting at the gate of heaven, Jewish legend represents Abraham as sitting at the gate of Gehenna, so as to prevent all who had the seal of circumcision from falling into its abyss” (“Life and Times of Jesus”). The reference to Simon himself is confirmed by the actual relation of Peter to the early church, to the Jewish portion of which he was a foundation-stone. See Acts, Acts 1:15; Acts 2:14, Acts 2:37; Acts 3:12; Acts 4:8; Acts 5:15, Acts 5:29; Acts 9:34, Acts 9:40; Acts 10:25, Acts 10:26; Galatians 1:15.Church ( ἐκκλησίαν ) ἐκ out, καλέω , to call or summon. This is the first occurrence of this word in the New Testament. Originally an assembly of citizens, regularly summoned. So in New Testament, Acts 19:39. The Septuagint uses the word for the congregation of Israel, either as summoned for a definite purpose (Acts 7:38); but for this there is more commonly employed συναγωγή , of which synagogue is a transcription; σύν , together, ἄγω , to bring (Acts 13:43). In Christ's words to Peter the word ἐκκλησία acquires special emphasis from the opposition implied in it to the synagogue. The Christian community in the midst of Israel would be designated as ἐκκλησία , without being confounded with the συναγωγή , the Jewish community. See Acts 5:11; Acts 8:1; Acts 12:1; Acts 14:23, Acts 14:27, etc. Nevertheless συναγωγή is applied to a Christian assembly in James 2:2, while ἐπισυναγωγή (gathering or assembling together ) is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1; Hebrews 10:25. Both in Hebrew and in New Testament usage ἐκκλησία implies more than a collective or national unity; rather a community based on a special religious idea and established in a special way. In the New Testament the term is used also in the narrower sense of a single church, or a church confined to a particular place. So of the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (Romans 16:5); the church at Corinth, the churches in Judea, the church at Jerusalem, etc.Gates of hell ( πύλαι ᾅδου )Rev., Hades. Hades was originally the name of the god who presided over the realm of the dead - Pluto or Dis. Hence the phrase, house of Hades. It is derived from ἀ , not, and; ἰδεῖν , to see; and signifies, therefore, the invisible land, the realm of shadow. It is the place to which all who depart this life descend, without reference to their moral character. By this word the Septuagint translated the Hebrew Sheol, which has a similar general meaning. The classical Hades embraced both good and bad men, though divided into Elysium, the abode of the virtuous, and Tartarus, the abode of the wicked. In these particulars it corresponds substantially with Sheol; both the godly and the wicked being represented as gathered into the latter. See Genesis 42:38; Psalm 9:17; Psalm 139:8; Isaiah 14:9; Isaiah 57:2; Ezekiel 32:27; Hosea 13:14. Hades and Sheol were alike conceived as a definite place, lower than the world. The passage of both good and bad into it was regarded as a descent. The Hebrew conception is that of a place of darkness; a cheerless home of a dull, joyless, shadowy life. See Psalm 6:5; Psalm 94:17; Psalm 115:17; Psalm 88:5, Psalm 88:6, Psalm 88:10; Job 10:21; Job 3:17-19; Job 14:10, Job 14:11; Ecclesiastes 9:5. Vagueness is its characteristic. In this the Hebrew's faith appears bare in contrast with that of the Greek and Roman. The pagan poets gave the popular mind definite pictures of Tartarus and Elysium; of Styx and Acheron; of happy plains where dead heroes held high discourse, and of black abysses where offenders underwent strange and ingenious tortures. There was, indeed, this difference between the Hebrew and the Pagan conceptions; that to the Pagan, Hades was the final home of its tenants, while Sheol was a temporary condition. Hence the patriarchs are described (Hebrews 11:16) as looking for a better, heavenly country; and the martyrs as enduring in hope of “a better resurrection.” Prophecy declared that the dead should arise and sing, when Sheol itself should be destroyed and its inmates brought forth, some to everlasting life, and others to shame and contempt (Isaiah 26:19; Hosea 13:14; Daniel 12:2). Paul represents this promise as made to the fathers by God, and as the hope of his countrymen (Acts 26:7). God was the God of the dead as well as of the living; present in the dark chambers of Sheol as well as in heaven (Psalm 139:8; Psalm 16:10). This is the underlying thought of that most touching and pathetic utterance of Job (Job 14:13-15), in which he breathes the wish that God would hide him with loving care in Hades, as a place of temporary concealment, where he will wait patiently, standing like a sentinel at his post, awaiting the divine voice calling him to a new and happier life. This, too, is the thought of the familiar and much-disputed passage, Job 19:23-27. His Redeemer, vindicator, avenger, shall arise after he shall have passed through the shadowy realm of Sheol. “A judgment in Hades, in which the judge will show himself his friend, in which all the tangled skein of his life will be unravelled by wise and kindly hands, and the insoluble problem of his strange and self-contradicting experience will at last be solved - this is what Job still looks for on that happy day when he shall see God for himself, and find his Goel (vindicator) in that Almighty Deliverer” (Cox, “Commentary on the Book of Job”). In the New Testament, Hades is the realm of the dead. It cannot be successfully maintained that it is, in particular, the place for sinners (so Cremer, “Biblico-Theological Lexicon”). The words about Capernaum (Matthew 11:23), which it is surprising to find Cremer citing in support of this position, are merely a rhetorical expression of a fall from the height of earthly glory to the deepest degradation, and have no more bearing upon the moral character of Hades than the words of Zophar (Job 11:7, Job 11:8) about the perfection of the Almighty. “It is high as heaven - deeper than Sheol. ” Hades is indeed coupled with Death (Revelation 1:18; Revelation 6:8; Revelation 20:13, Revelation 20:14), but the association is natural, and indeed inevitable, apart from all moral distinctions. Death would naturally be followed by Hades in any case. In Revelation 20:13, Revelation 20:14, the general judgment is predicted, and not only Death and Hades, but the sea give tip their dead, and only those who are not written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). The rich man was in Hades (Luke 16:23), and in torments, but Lazarus was also in Hades, “in Abraham's bosom.” The details of this story “evidently represent the views current at the time among the Jews. According to them, the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life were the abode of the blessed. We read that the righteous in Eden see the wicked in Gehenna and rejoice; and similarly, that the wicked in Gehenna see the righteous sitting beatified in Eden, and their souls are troubled (Edersheim, “Life and Times of Jesus”). Christ also was in Hades (Acts 2:27, Acts 2:31). Moreover, the word γέεννα , hell (see on Matthew 5:22), is specially used to denote the place of future punishment. Hades, then, in the New Testament, is a broad and general conception, with an idea of locality bound up with it. It is the condition following death, which is blessed or the contrary, according to the moral character of the dead, and is therefore divided into different realms, represented by Paradise or Abraham's bosom, and Gehenna. The expression Gates of Hades is an orientalism for the court, throne, power, and dignity of the infernal kingdom. Hades is contemplated as a mighty city, with formidable, frowning portals. Some expositors introduce also the idea of the councils of the Satanic powers, with reference to the Eastern custom of holding such deliberations in the gates of cities. Compare the expression Sublime Porte, applied to the Ottoman court. The idea of a building is maintained in both members of the comparison. The kingdom or city of Hades confronts and assaults the church which Christ will build upon the rock. See Job 38:17; Psalm 9:13; Psalm 107:18; Isaiah 38:10. 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Never used in the New Testament, as in the Septuagint, of the mere physical organ, though sometimes of the vigor and sense of physical life (Acts 14:17; James 5:5; Luke 21:34). Generally, the center of our complex being - physical, moral, spiritual, and intellectual. See on Mark 12:30. The immediate organ by which man lives his personal life, and where that entire personal life concentrates itself. It is thus used sometimes as parallel to ψυχή , the individual life, and to πνεῦμα theprinciple of life, which manifests itself in the ψυχή . Strictly, καρδία is the immediate organ of ψυχή , occupying a mediating position between it and πνεῦμα . In the heart ( καρδία ) the spirit ( πνεῦμα ), which is the distinctive principle of the life or soul ( ψυχή ), has the seat of its activity. Emotions of joy or sorrow are thus ascribed both to the heart and to the soul. Compare John 14:27, “Let not your heart ( καρδιά ) be troubled;” and John 12:27, “Now is my soul ( ψυχή ) troubled.” The heart is the focus of the religious life (Matthew 22:37; Luke 6:45; 2 Timothy 2:22). It is the sphere of the operation of grace (Matthew 13:19; Luke 8:15; Luke 24:32; Acts 2:37; Romans 10:9, Romans 10:10). Also of the opposite principle (John 13:2; Acts 5:3). Used also as the seat of the understanding; the faculty of intelligence as applied to divine things (Matthew 13:15; Romans 1:21; Mark 8:17). [source]
See on Acts 5:33. In both instances, of anger. A different word is used to express remorse, Acts 2:37. [source]
Imperfect passive of διαπριω diapriō old verb Here it is rage that cuts into their hearts, not conviction of sin as in Acts 2:37. Only here and Acts 7:54 (after Stephen‘s speech) in the N.T. (cf. Simeon‘s prophecy in Luke 2:35). [source]
Heb., deep sleep. Only here in the New Testament. Lit., pricking or piercing, compunction. Compare the kindred verb κατενύγησαν werepricked, Acts 2:37. Rev. renders stupor, the secondary meaning; properly the stupefaction following a wound or blow. [source]
The quotation is a combination of Deuteronomy 19:4; Isaiah 29:10; Isaiah 6:9. This phrase is from Isaiah 29:10. Κατανυχις Katanuxis is a late and rare word from κατανυσσω katanussō to prick or stick (Acts 2:37), in lxx, here only in N.T., one example in Pelagia-Legende. The torpor seems the result of too much sensation, dulled by incitement into apathy. [source]
Perfect passive participle of αγαπαω agapaō the verb so common in the N.T. for the highest kind of love. Paul is not content with the use of αδελποι adelphoi here (often in this Epistle as 1 Thessalonians 2:1, 1 Thessalonians 2:14, 1 Thessalonians 2:17; 1 Thessalonians 3:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 4:10), but adds this affectionate phrase nowhere else in the N.T. in this form (cf. Judges 1:3) though in Sirach 45:1 and on the Rosetta Stone. But in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 he quotes “beloved by the Lord” from Deuteronomy 33:12. The use of αδελποι adelphoi for members of the same brotherhood can be derived from the Jewish custom (Acts 2:29, Acts 2:37) and the habit of Jesus (Matthew 12:48) and is amply illustrated in the papyri for burial clubs and other orders and guilds (Moulton and Milligan‘s Vocabulary). Your election (την εκλογην υμων tēn eklogēn humōn). That is the election of you by God. It is an old word from εκλεγομαι eklegomai used by Jesus of his choice of the twelve disciples (John 15:16) and by Paul of God‘s eternal selection (Ephesians 1:4). The word εκλογη eklogē is not in the lxx and only seven times in the N.T. and always of God‘s choice of men (Acts 9:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; Romans 9:11; Romans 11:5, Romans 11:7, Romans 11:8; 2 Peter 1:10). The divine εκλογη eklogē was manifested in the Christian qualities of 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (Moffatt). [source]
Purpose clause with ινα hina and the first aorist passive subjunctive of καταισχυνω kataischunō old verb, to put to shame (Luke 13:17; 1 Peter 2:6).Wherein ye are spoken against (εν ωι καταλαλειστε en hōi katalaleisthe). Present passive indicative of καταλαλεω katalaleō for which see 1 Peter 2:12 with εν ωι en hōi also. Peter may be recalling (Hart) his own experience at Pentecost when the Jews first scoffed and others were cut to the heart (Acts 2:13, Acts 2:37).Who revile Articular present active participle of επηρεαζω epēreazō old verb (from επηρεια epēreia spiteful abuse), to insult, in N.T. only here and Luke 6:28.In Christ (εν Χριστωι en Christōi). Paul‘s common mystical phrase that Peter has three times (here, 1 Peter 5:10, 1 Peter 5:14), not in John, though the idea is constantly in John. Peter here gives a new turn (cf. 1 Peter 2:12) to αναστροπη anastrophē (manner of life). “Constantly the apostle repeats his phrases with new significance and in a new light” (Bigg). [source]
Present passive indicative of καταλαλεω katalaleō for which see 1 Peter 2:12 with εν ωι en hōi also. Peter may be recalling (Hart) his own experience at Pentecost when the Jews first scoffed and others were cut to the heart (Acts 2:13, Acts 2:37). [source]