Discovery BoxActs 8:14-17 
Context8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem 1 heard that Samaria had accepted the word 2 of God, they sent 3 Peter and John to them. 8:15 These two 4 went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. 8:16 (For the Spirit 5 had not yet come upon 6 any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 7 8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans, 8 and they received the Holy Spirit. 9
1 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
2 tn Or “message.”
3 sn They sent. The Jerusalem church with the apostles was overseeing the expansion of the church, as the distribution of the Spirit indicates in vv. 15-17.
4 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.
5 tn Grk “For he”; the referent (the Spirit) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Or “fallen on.”
7 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
8 tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the Samaritans) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 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.
