Passage

Acts 1.4-5

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

2. until the day in which he was received up, after that he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3. to whom he also showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing unto them by the space of forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God:

4. and, being assembled together with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, ye heard from me: 5. for John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence.

They therefore, when they were come together, asked him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? 7. And he said unto them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within his own authority. (Acts 1:2-7, ASV)

WEB

2. until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3. To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking about God’s Kingdom.

4. Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. 5. For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Therefore when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7. He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority. (Acts 1:2-7, WEB)

KJV

2. Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3. To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

4. And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. ^{being: or, eating together} 5. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7. And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. (Acts 1:2-7, KJV)

YLT

2. till the day in which, having given command, through the Holy Spirit, to the apostles whom he did choose out, he was taken up, 3. to whom also he did present himself alive after his suffering, in many certain proofs, through forty days being seen by them, and speaking the things concerning the reign of God.

4. And being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he,] 'Ye did hear of me; 5. because John, indeed, baptized with water, and ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, after not many days.'

They, therefore, indeed, having come together, were questioning him, saying, 'Lord, dost thou at this time restore the reign to Israel?' 7. and he said unto them, 'It is not yours to know times or seasons that the Father did appoint in His own authority; (Acts 1:2-7, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: The risen Jesus, as reported by Luke. Acts is the second volume of a two-part work addressed to Theophilus (Acts 1:1, compare Luke 1:1-4).
Audience: Theophilus and the wider church. Within the scene, the apostles.
Location: Jerusalem. The ascension follows on the Mount of Olives, "the mount called Olivet," a sabbath day's journey from the city (Acts 1:12).
Time period: The forty days between the resurrection and the ascension (Acts 1:3), c. AD 30 or 33. Acts was composed c. AD 62-90; the date is debated, and Colin Hemer (The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History) argued for the early 60s.

Theological reading

"...he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, ye heard from me: for John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence." (Acts 1:4-5, ASV)

"Being assembled together." The participle synalizomenos is rare and its sense is debated. It may mean "gathering together," or, if it is connected with hals, salt, "eating salt with," that is, sharing a meal; the ASV margin offers "eating with." The second reading fits Luke's stress that the risen Jesus ate with his disciples (Luke 24:41-43; Acts 10:41).

"The promise of the Father." The phrase picks up the last words of Luke's Gospel: "I send forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city" (Luke 24:49, ASV). The two volumes are joined at this hinge. The promise is the Holy Spirit, foretold by the prophets (Joel 2:28-32) and named by Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:33).

Water and Spirit. Jesus quotes John the Baptist's own contrast (Luke 3:16; Matthew 3:11). John's baptism was preparatory; the risen Lord himself will "baptize" his people in the Spirit. Peter later recalls this saying to explain the Spirit's coming on Cornelius' household (Acts 11:16).

"Not many days hence." The forty days of appearances (Acts 1:3) and the feast of Pentecost, fifty days after Passover, leave about ten days of waiting. The command to stay in Jerusalem sets the order of the mission that follows: Jerusalem first, then Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

A debated term. Pentecostal and Wesleyan-holiness traditions read "baptized in the Holy Spirit" as an empowering experience that may follow conversion; many Reformed and Baptist interpreters read it as the Spirit's initial gift at conversion. Acts itself shows variety in the order of faith, baptism and the Spirit's coming (Acts 8:14-17; Acts 10:44-48; Acts 19:1-7). See Tongues as Evidence of the Spirit.

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.

G0907 - baptizo, baptizo, Strong's G0907
G4151 - pneuma, pneuma, Strong's G4151
G3962 - pater, pater, Strong's G3962
G0191 - akouo, akouo, Strong's G0191

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Baptism, via Acts 1.5
Jesus Said
Paraclete, Identity and Recipients, via Acts 1.5
Pentecost, via Acts 1.4

Lexicon:

G0907 - baptizo, via Acts 1.5

Passages:

Notes

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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.