Acts 8:22

Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Repent	μετανόησον metanoēson	G3340	to think differently or afterwards · verb — aorist active imperative, 2nd person singular
therefore	οὖν oun	G3767	(adverbially) certainly · conjunction
of	ἀπὸ apo	G575	"off · preposition
this	ταύτης tautēs	G3778	the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — genitive singular feminine
thy	σοῦ soû	G4675	of thee
wickedness	κακίας kakias	G2549	badness · noun — genitive singular feminine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
pray	δεήθητι deēthēti	G1189	to beg (as binding oneself) · verb — aorist passive deponent imperative, 2nd person singular
God	θεός theós	G2316	figuratively
if	εἰ ei	G1487	if · conditional particle
perhaps	ἄρα ara	G686	a particle denoting an inference more or less decisive… · conjunction
thought	ἐπίνοια epinoia	G1963	attention of the mind · noun — nominative singular feminine
thine	σοῦ soû	G4675	of thee
heart	καρδίας kardias	G2588	the heart · noun — genitive singular feminine
forgiven	ἀφεθήσεταί aphethēsetai	G863	an intensive form of · verb — future passive indicative, 3rd person singular
thee	σοί soí	G4671	to thee

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

2 Timothy 2:25-26 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
Daniel 4:27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to…
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, a…
Matthew 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Luke 11:9-13 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Acts 9:11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, o…
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repenta…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 8:14-25

God had wonderfully owned Philip in his work as an evangelist at Samaria, but he could do no more than an evangelist; there were some peculiar powers reserved to the apostles, for the keeping up of the dignity of their office, and here we have an account of what was done by two of them there - Peter and John. The twelve kept together at Jerusalem (Act 8:1), and thither these good tidings were brought them that Samaria had received the word of God (Act 8:14), that a great harvest of souls was gathered, and was likely to be gathered in to Christ there. The word of God was not only preached to them, but received by them; they bade it welcome, admitted the light of it, and submitted to the power…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 8:22

Repent . . . pray . . . if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven--this expression of doubt being designed to impress upon him the greatness of his sin, and the need of alarm on his part.

Adam Clarke on Acts 8:22

Repent therefore of this thy wickedness - St. Peter did not suppose his case to be utterly hopeless; though his sin, considered in its motives and objects, was of the most heinous kind. If perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee - His sin, as yet, only existed in thought and purpose; and therefore it is said, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven.

John Gill on Acts 8:22

Repent therefore of this thy wickedness,.... For a great piece of wickedness it was, to offer money for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and to imagine, that could be purchased with money; and what made the wickedness still greater was, the evil design he had in this, to advance himself in opposition to Christ and his apostles, as he afterwards did; and when the apostle puts him upon repentance, his view is to show the heinousness of his crime, the need he stood in of repentance, and that without it, his case must be miserable: and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee; though he was in a state of nature, the apostle exhorts him to the duty of prayer; for prayer is…

The Church Fathers

But otherwise he did not punish him: that faith may not thereafter be of compulsion; that the matter may not seem to be carried ruthlessly; that he may introduce the subject of repentance: or also, because it suffices for correction to have convicted him, to have told him what was in his heart, to have brought him to confess himself overcome.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 18

For had it been done with simplicity, he would have even welcomed his willing mind. Seest thou that to have mean conceptions of great things is to sin doubly? Accordingly, two things he bids him: "Repent and pray, if haply the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." Seest thou it was a wicked thought he had entertained? Therefore he says, "If haply it may be forgiven thee": because he knew him to be incorrigible. "For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." Words of exceeding wrath!
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 18

"Repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive the bond of iniquity." Once more he brings to light what was in the thoughts, because Simon thought to escape detection. "If perchance it may be forgiven thee." Not as though it would not have been pardoned, had he wept, but this is the manner of the Prophet also, to denounce absolutely, and not to say, "Howbeit, if thou do this, thy sin shall be forgiven," but that in any wise the punishment shall take effect.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 18

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…
Magic — The Jews seem early to have consulted the teraphim (q.v.) for oracular answers (Judg. 18:5, 6; Zech. 10:2). There is a remarkable illustration of this divining by teraphim in Ezek. 21:19-22. We read…
Peter — Originally called Simon (=Simeon, i.e., “hearing”), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Matt. 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger…
Philip The Evangelist — is first mentioned in the account of the dispute between the Hebrew and Hellenistic disciples in Acts 6. He is one of the deacons appointed to superintend the daily distribution of food and alms, and…
Simon — The abbreviated form of Simeon. (1.) One of the twelve apostles, called the Canaanite (Matt. 10:4; Mark 3:18). This word “Canaanite” does not mean a native of Canaan, but is derived from the Syriac…
Hypocrites · Exemplified: Simon — Exemplified: Simon
Repentance · Necessary to the pardon of sin — Necessary to the pardon of sin
Samaria · .Visited by Philip, Peter, and — .Visited by Philip, Peter, and
Simon · .Rebuked by Peter — .Rebuked by Peter

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).

Acts 8:22

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 8:14-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 8:22

Adam Clarke on Acts 8:22

John Gill on Acts 8:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Acts 8:22

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Acts 8:14-25

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Acts 8:22

Adam Clarke on Acts 8:22

John Gill on Acts 8:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Acts 8:18-25

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Acts 8:14-17