ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Acts 2.38-41
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Passage

Acts 2.38-41

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

36. Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified. 37. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do?

38. And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39. For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him. 40. And with many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. 41. They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls.

  1. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. (Acts 2:36-43, ASV)
WEB

36. “Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38. Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 40. With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” 41. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.

  1. They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer. 43. Fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. (Acts 2:36-43, WEB)
KJV

36. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

38. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

  1. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. (Acts 2:36-43, KJV)
YLT

36. assuredly, therefore, let all the house of Israel know, that both Lord and Christ did God make him, this Jesus whom ye did crucify.' 37. And having heard, they were pricked to the heart; they say also to Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, 'What shall we do, men, brethren?'

38. and Peter said unto them, 'Reform, and be baptized each of you on the name of Jesus Christ, to remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, 39. for to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all those afar off, as many as the Lord our God shall call.' 40. Also with many more other words he was testifying and exhorting, saying, 'Be saved from this perverse generation;' 41. then those, indeed, who did gladly receive his word were baptized, and there were added on that day, as it were, three thousand souls,

  1. and they were continuing stedfastly in the teaching of the apostles, and the fellowship, and the breaking of the bread, and the prayers. 43. And fear came on every soul, many wonders also and signs were being done through the apostles, (Acts 2:36-43, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Peter; verse 41 is Luke's report. 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, the crowd who asked, "Brethren, what shall we do?" (2:37).
  • Location: Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost (Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks), one of the three pilgrimage feasts of the Law (Deuteronomy 16:16).
  • Time period: The first Pentecost after the crucifixion, 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

"And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38, ASV)

The answer to "what shall we do?" Peter gives two commands and two promises. The commands: repent, and be baptized. The promises: remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. "Repent" (metanoēsate) is plural and addressed to all; "be baptized" is singular, "every one of you." Repentance is the turning of the whole crowd; baptism is the individual's public mark of it.

"Unto the remission of your sins." Eis aphesin tōn hamartiōn. The phrase is contested. Churches of Christ and those holding baptismal regeneration read eis as "in order to," making baptism the point at which forgiveness is given. Many Baptist and evangelical interpreters read the forgiveness as tied to repentance, with baptism as its outward sign, and note that elsewhere in Acts Peter promises remission upon faith or repentance without mentioning baptism (Acts 3:19; Acts 10:43). Lutheran, Catholic and Orthodox traditions hold that baptism truly conveys forgiveness. The grammar alone does not settle the question; the wider witness of Acts has to be weighed. See Baptism and Repentance.

"In the name of Jesus Christ." Acts consistently speaks of baptism "in the name of Jesus Christ" or "the Lord Jesus" (Acts 8:16; Acts 10:48; Acts 19:5), while Matthew 28:19 gives the threefold name. Oneness Pentecostals hold that the Acts wording is the required formula. Trinitarian interpreters, including classical Trinitarian Pentecostals, read "in the name of Jesus" as describing the baptism's authority and allegiance rather than quoting a fixed formula; the Didache, an early Christian manual, already gives the threefold name. See Oneness Pentecostalism and Trinity.

"To all that are afar off." "For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him" (Acts 2:39, ASV). The last clause echoes Joel 2:32, "among the remnant those whom Jehovah doth call" (Joel 2:32, ASV). "Afar off" recalls Isaiah's "Peace, peace, to him that is far off" (Isaiah 57:19, ASV). Peter may at first have meant Jews of the dispersion; Luke's story will widen it to Gentiles (Acts 10:44-46).

Three thousand. "They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41, ASV). Receiving the word comes first, then baptism. The response is immediate and public, in the city where Jesus had been executed weeks before. See Acts 2:41 and Church at Jerusalem.

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.

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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.

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