Passage

Acts 10.44-46

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

42. And he charged us to preach unto the people, and to testify that this is he who is ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. 43. To him bear all the prophets witness, that through his name every one that believeth on him shall receive remission of sins.

44. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word. 45. And they of the circumcision that believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. 46. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,

Can any man forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? 48. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. (Acts 10:42-48, ASV)

WEB

42. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that this is he who is appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead. 43. All the prophets testify about him, that through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins.”

44. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. 45. They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles. 46. For they heard them speaking in other languages and magnifying God. Then Peter answered,

“Can anyone forbid these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just like us.” 48. He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay some days. (Acts 10:42-48, WEB)

KJV

42. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. 43. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

44. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,

Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? 48. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. (Acts 10:42-48, KJV)

YLT

42. and he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify fully that it is he who hath been ordained by God judge of living and dead 43. to this one do all the prophets testify, that through his name every one that is believing in him doth receive remission of sins.'

44. While Peter is yet speaking these sayings, the Holy spirit fell upon all those hearing the word, 45. and those of the circumcision believing were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because also upon the nations the gift of the Holy Spirit hath been poured out, 46. for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and magnifying God.

Then answered Peter, 'The water is any one able to forbid, that these may not be baptized, who the Holy Spirit did receive, even as also we?' 48. he commanded them also to be baptized in the name of the Lord; then they besought him to remain certain days. (Acts 10:42-48, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Luke, narrating. 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, Cornelius' household and friends, and "they of the circumcision that believed" who came with Peter (10:45).
Location: Caesarea, in the house of Cornelius.
Time period: Probably the late 30s AD; Luke gives no date, and the episode falls before the death of Herod Agrippa I in AD 44 (Acts 12:20-23). 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

"While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them that heard the word. And they of the circumcision that believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God." (Acts 10:44-46, ASV)

God interrupts. Peter had not finished. Retelling the event, he says, "as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them" (Acts 11:15, ASV). No appeal is made, no hands are laid on, no one has been baptized yet. The Spirit comes while the Gentiles are hearing the message about Jesus. God himself settles the question of Gentile inclusion before the church can debate it.

"On the Gentiles also." The six Jewish believers from Joppa (Acts 11:12) are amazed. Their surprise shows how far the idea was from them. The Spirit given at Pentecost to Jews is now given to uncircumcised Gentiles in exactly the same way. Peter says, "even as on us at the beginning" (11:15).

Tongues as the sign. "They heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God." The tongues here function as public evidence to Jewish observers that God had accepted these Gentiles. Paul later writes that "tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to the unbelieving" (1 Corinthians 14:22, ASV). Classical Pentecostals cite this passage, with Acts 2:4 and Acts 19:6, for tongues as the initial evidence of Spirit baptism; others read the tongues here as a specific sign for a turning point in salvation history. See Tongues as Evidence of the Spirit.

Spirit before baptism. The order here is hearing, believing, receiving the Spirit, and then water baptism (Acts 10:47). In Acts 2:38 baptism precedes the gift, and in Acts 8:14-17 the Spirit comes after baptism through the apostles' hands. Luke records variety, which cautions against making any single sequence a rule. Peter later sums up what mattered: God gave them the Spirit, "cleansing their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9, ASV). See Baptism and Sola Fide.

The decisive precedent. At the Jerusalem Council, this event is Peter's argument: "God, who knoweth the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us; and he made no distinction between us and them" (Acts 15:8-9, ASV).

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.

G1484 - ethnos, ethnos, Strong's G1484
G3056 - logos, logos, Strong's G3056
G4151 - pneuma, pneuma, Strong's G4151
G0191 - akouo, akouo, Strong's G0191
G3956 - pas, pas, Strong's G3956
G2316 - theos, theos, Strong's G2316

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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.