Passage

Acts 1.13

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

11. who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven. 12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is nigh unto Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey off.

13. And when they were come in, they went up into the upper chamber, where they were abiding; both Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

These all with one accord continued stedfastly in prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 15. And in these days Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, and said (and there was a multitude of persons gathered together, about a hundred and twenty), (Acts 1:11-15, ASV)

WEB

11. who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.” 12. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

13. When they had come in, they went up into the upper room, where they were staying; that is Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

All these with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer and supplication, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. 15. In these days, Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples (and the number of names was about one hundred twenty), and said, (Acts 1:11-15, WEB)

KJV

11. Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

13. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 15. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) (Acts 1:11-15, KJV)

YLT

11. who also said, 'Men, Galileans, why do ye stand gazing into the heaven? this Jesus who was received up from you into the heaven, shall so come in what manner ye saw him going on to the heaven.' 12. Then did they return to Jerusalem from the mount that is called of Olives, that is near Jerusalem, a sabbath's journey;

13. and when they came in, they went up to the upper room, where were abiding both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James, of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zelotes, and Judas, of James;

these all were continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication, with women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 15. And in these days, Peter having risen up in the midst of the disciples, said, (the multitude also of the names at the same place was, as it were, an hundred and twenty,) (Acts 1:11-15, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the narrator of Acts, traditionally Luke
Audience: Theophilus and the reader
Location: Jerusalem, the upper room where they were staying
Time period: c. AD 30, between the ascension and Pentecost

Theological reading

A list, and lists in Acts are rarely decorative. Eleven names are given, the Twelve minus Judas, and the gap is the point: the narrative immediately proceeds to fill it, because the number twelve carries the claim that this movement is the restoration of Israel rather than a new sect.

The setting is worth noticing too. They are in an upper room, waiting, having been told to wait. Between the ascension and Pentecost the church does nothing except gather, pray, and put its house in order, which is a deliberate contrast with the activity that begins in chapter 2 once the Spirit comes.

The presence of the women, of Mary, and of Jesus's brothers in the following verse widens the group beyond the Eleven and quietly records that the brothers who did not believe during the ministry are now among the believers.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Causal Adequacy Argument

Concepts:

Petrine Primacy

People:

Lexicon:

G2205 - zelos

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.