Discovery BoxActs 8:15-17 
Context8:15 These two 1 went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. 8:16 (For the Spirit 2 had not yet come upon 3 any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 4 8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans, 5 and they received the Holy Spirit. 6
1 tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the phrase “these two” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.
2 tn Grk “For he”; the referent (the Spirit) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Or “fallen on.”
4 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
5 tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the Samaritans) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 sn They received the Holy Spirit. It is likely this special distribution of the Spirit took place because a key ethnic boundary was being crossed. Here are some of “those far off” of Acts 2:38-40.
