Acts 2:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Acts 2:14
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
to take in one's ear · verb — aorist middle deponent imperative, 2nd person plural
my
μοῦmoû
G3450
of me
words
ῥήματάrhēmata
G4487
an utterance (individually · noun — accusative plural neuter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 51:7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of t…
Deuteronomy 27:9 And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people o…
Isaiah 51:1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit…
Isaiah 52:8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring agai…
Isaiah 58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
Hosea 8:1 Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and tresp…
Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by h…
Acts 5:35 And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 2:14-36
We have here the first-fruits of the Spirit in the sermon which Peter preached immediately, directed, not to those of other nations in a strange language (we are not told what answer he gave to those that were amazed, and said, What meaneth this?) but to the Jews in the vulgar language, even to those that mocked; for he begins with the notice of that (Act 2:15), and addresses his discourse (Act 2:14) to the men of Judea and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; but we have reason enough to think that the other disciples continued to speak to those who understood them (and therefore flocked about them), in the languages of their respective countries, the wonderful works of God. And it was not by Pete…
PETER FOR THE FIRST TIME, PUBLICLY PREACHES CHRIST. (Acts 2:14-36)
Peter, standing up with the eleven--in advance, perhaps, of the rest.
Adam Clarke on Acts 2:14
Peter, standing up with the eleven - They probably spoke by turns, not altogether; but Peter began the discourse.
All ye that dwell at Jerusalem - Οἱ κατοικουντες would be better translated by the word sojourn, because these were not inhabitants of Judea, but the strangers mentioned in Act 2:9-11, who had come up to the feast.
John Gill on Acts 2:14
But Peter standing up with the eleven,.... Apostles; their number being now complete, Matthias being chosen in the room of Judas. These all at once rose up, as abhorring the fact they were charged with, and to show the falsehood of it, and to vindicate themselves; when Peter, as their mouth, stood "in the midst" of them, as the Ethiopic version reads, with great courage, boldness, and intrepidity of mind: and "lift up his voice"; that he might be heard by the whole multitude, that was gathered together, as well as to show his zeal and fervour of spirit, and fortitude of mind; for being endued with the Spirit from on high, he was fearless of men, who but a little while ago was frightened by a…
"Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem," whom the writer above described as strangers. Here he directs his discourse to those others, the mockers, and while he seems to reason with those, he sets these right. For indeed it was divinely ordered that "some mocked," that he might have a starting-point for his defence, and by means of that defence, might teach. "And all ye that dwell in Jerusalem." It seems they accounted it a high encomium to dwell in Jerusalem too. "Be this," says he, "known unto you, and hearken unto my words." In the first instance he made them more disposed to attend to him.
"But Peter standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke to them," etc. But blessed Peter, standing up with the eleven apostles, spoke with a loud voice, saying that, seeing it was but the third hour of the day, they were not, as some thought, drunk with must, but rather filled with the honor of the Holy Ghost. He also supported this claim with a quote from the prophet Joel, so as to declare to them that the knowledge exhibited by the disciples was not to be ascribed to intoxication but truly to divine mercy. Then, he condemned the wickedness of the Jews, who chose to crucify the Lord Christ, whom God, loosing the laws of hell, raised up from the dead. This is also supported by an example from Psalm 15.
In the foregoing passages indeed Peter shows concern, when he allows the multitude the choice of him who was to be appointed with the eleven; here, however, openness. And he does this not having friendly listeners, but mocking and scoffing and shouting: moreover he himself was unlearned and uneducated. How then would what was done not be for a man? that is, to utter a voice. He says "with the eleven," indicating that by common will and voice he was the voice of all: for the eleven stood as witnesses of the things that were to be spoken. And he raised his voice, that is, he spoke with great freedom of words, so that they might immediately perceive from the outset the grace of the Spirit. For he who before this time did not bear the question of a slave girl, (see Jn. 18:17) here in the midst of the people, with all crying out, preaches so unwavering that this is unquestionably a sign of the resurrection.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Apostle — A person sent by another; a messenger; envoy. This word is once used as a descriptive designation of Jesus Christ, the Sent of the Father (Heb. 3:1; John 20:21). It is, however, generally used as…
Joel — Jehovah is his God. (1.) The oldest of Samuel’s two sons appointed by him as judges in Beersheba (1 Sam. 8:2). (See VASHNI.) (2.) A descendant of Reuben (1 Chr. 5:4, 8). (3.) One of David’s famous…
Messiah — (Heb. mashiah), in all the thirty-nine instances of its occurring in the Old Testament, is rendered by the LXX. “Christos.” It means anointed. Thus priests (Ex. 28:41; 40:15; Num. 3:3), prophets (1…
Pentecost — I.e., “fiftieth”, found only in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8). The festival so named is first spoken of in Ex. 23:16 as “the feast of harvest,” and again in Ex. 34:22 as “the day…
Drunkenness · .The Apostles — .The Apostles
Jerusalem · Gospel first preached at — Gospel first preached at
Orator · .The apostles — .The apostles
Preaching · .By Peter and other apostles — .By Peter and other apostles
Revivals · .At Pentecost, and times after Pentecost — .At Pentecost, and times after Pentecost
Tongue · Gift of — Gift of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Acts 2:14-21
Acts 2:14-21
14. But Peter, standing with the eleven, lift up his voice, and spoke unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye which dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known unto you, and with your ears hear my words. 15. For these men are not drunk as ye suppose; for it is the third hour of the day. 16. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, 17. And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your elders shall dream dreams: 18. Verily, I will pour out of my Spirit in those days upon my servants, and upon mine handmaids, and they shall prophesy. 19. And I…
This is the first of about thirty speeches in Acts and one of the most important, standing as it does at the very inception of the church. It is a typical example of the preaching of the apostles, who proclaimed (1) that the Old Testament promises had been fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the promised Messiah; (2) that the apostles themselves were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ entire public ministry and were his chosen representatives; (3) that people are called to repent of their sins and have faith in God through Christ; and (4) that salvation and the presence of the Holy Spirit are promised to those who respond affirmatively to this message of Good News. Thi…
