Discovery BoxActs 8:17-19 
Context8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans, 1 and they received the Holy Spirit. 2
8:18 Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit 3 was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them money, 8:19 saying, “Give me this power 4 too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”
1 tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the Samaritans) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 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.
3 tc Most witnesses (Ì45,74 A* C D E Ψ 33 1739 Ï latt sy bo) here read “the Holy Spirit” (τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, to pneuma to {agion), while a few key
4 tn Or “ability”; Grk “authority.”
