Passage

Acts 8.5-13

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"3. But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every house, and dragging men and women committed them to prison. 4. They therefore that were scattered abroad, went about preaching the word."

"5. And Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed unto them the Christ. 6. And the multitudes gave heed with one accord unto the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard, and saw the signs which he did. 7. For from many of those that had unclean spirits, they came out, crying with a loud voice: and many that were palsied, and that were lame, were healed. 8. And there was much joy in that city. 9. But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who beforetime in the city used sorcery, and amazed the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: 10. to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is called Great. 11. And they gave heed to him, because that of long time he had amazed them with his sorceries. 12. But when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13. And Simon also himself believed: and being baptized, he continued with Philip; and beholding signs and great miracles wrought, he was amazed."

"14. Now when the apostles that were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15. who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit:" (Acts 8:3-15, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"3. But Saul ravaged the assembly, entering into every house, and dragged both men and women off to prison. 4. Therefore those who were scattered abroad went around preaching the word."

"5. Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ. 6. The multitudes listened with one accord to the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did. 7. For unclean spirits came out of many of those who had them. They came out, crying with a loud voice. Many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. 8. There was great joy in that city. 9. But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who used to practice sorcery in the city, and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out to be some great one, 10. to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is that great power of God.” 11. They listened to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his sorceries. 12. But when they believed Philip preaching good news concerning God’s Kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13. Simon himself also believed. Being baptized, he continued with Philip. Seeing signs and great miracles occurring, he was amazed."

"14. Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15. who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit;" (Acts 8:3-15, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"3. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. 4. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word."

"5. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. 6. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. 8. And there was great joy in that city. 9. But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: 10. To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. 11. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. 12. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. ^{miracles: Gr. signs and great miracles}"

"14. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15. Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:" (Acts 8:3-15, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"3. and Saul was making havoc of the assembly, into every house entering, and haling men and women, was giving them up to prison; 4. they then indeed, having been scattered, went abroad proclaiming good news, the word."

"5. And Philip having gone down to a city of Samaria, was preaching to them the Christ, 6. the multitudes also were giving heed to the things spoken by Philip, with one accord, in their hearing and seeing the signs that he was doing, 7. for unclean spirits came forth from many who were possessed, crying with a loud voice, and many who have been paralytic and lame were healed, 8. and there was great joy in that city. 9. And a certain man, by name Simon, was before in the city using magic, and amazing the nation of Samaria, saying himself to be a certain great one, 10. to whom they were all giving heed, from small unto great, saying, 'This one is the great power of God;' 11. and they were giving heed to him, because of his having for a long time amazed them with deeds of magic. 12. And when they believed Philip, proclaiming good news, the things concerning the reign of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women; 13. and Simon also himself did believe, and, having been baptized, he was continuing with Philip, beholding also signs and mighty acts being done, he was amazed."

"14. And the apostles in Jerusalem having heard that Samaria hath received the word of God, did send unto them Peter and John, 15. who having come down did pray concerning them, that they may receive the Holy Spirit, --" (Acts 8:3-15, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

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

Evangelist

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.