Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.
Parallel Translations
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Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy.
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And on my servauts and on my honde maydens I will powre out of my sprete in those dayes and they shall prophesye.
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And on my seruauntes, and on mine handmaides I will powre out of my Spirite in those daies, and they shall prophecie.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Acts 2:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Colossians 3:11 where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.
- 1 Corinthians 7:21-22 Were you called being a bondservant? Don’t let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it. For he who was called in the Lord being a bondservant is the Lord’s free man. Likewise he who was called being free is Christ’s bondservant.
- Acts 21:10 As we stayed there some days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 18. Upon my servants. In these words the promise…
18. Upon my servants. In these words the promise is restrained unto the worshippers of God. For God doth not profane his Spirit; which he should do, if he should make the stone common to the unbelieving and despisers. It is certain that we are made the servants of God by the Spirit; and that, therefore, we are not, until such time as we have received the same; but, first, whom God hath adopted to be of his family, and whom he hath framed by his Spirit to obey him, those doth he furnish with new gifts afterward. Again, the prophet did not respect that order of thee, but his meaning was to make this grace proper to the Church alone. And forasmuch as the Church was only among the Jews, he calleth them honorably the servants and handmaids of God. But after that God did gather unto himself on every side a Church, the wall of separation being pulled down, so many as are received into the society of the covenant are called by the same name. Only let us remember, that the Spirit is appointed for the Church properly.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens…
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Ver. 18. And on mine handmaids] Souls have no sexes, Gal 3:28.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On my servants and on my handmaidens; to show…
On my servants and on my handmaidens; to show what all ought to be, that hope to receive any benefit or comfort from the promises of God, either in the law or gospel, the Old or New Testament; viz. such as seek and serve God; but to the disobedient and unbelieving there is not a comfortable word in all the book of God. Some read without the pronoun, on servants and handmaids; to show that God doth not despise men of the lowest rank and condition in the world, but that the promise of the Spirit is made unto them also.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And on my servants, and on my handmaidens,.... In…
And on my servants, and on my handmaidens,.... In Joel it is only the servants and the handmaids; and which Kimchi interprets of strangers that should stand in the land of Israel, and serve the Israelites. But these phrases do not seem so much to describe the civil state and condition of those persons, as their religious character, being such as were brought, by the power of divine grace, to yield a cheerful obedience to the will of God; though it may also regard the former, and show, that with God there is no distinction and difference of bond or free, of rich or poor; contrary to a maxim of the Jews (s), that the Shekinah does not dwell but upon a wise man, a mighty man, and a rich man,
I will pour out, in those days, of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy; see the note on the preceding verse, from whence this clause, "and they shall prophesy", is repeated; for it is not in the text in Joel; which is done to point at the end and effect of the Spirit being poured down upon them,
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(s) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 92. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And upon my servants - On those who are…
And upon my servants - On those who are literally in a state of servitude.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. On my servants and on my handmaidens]…
Verse 18. On my servants and on my handmaidens] This properly means persons of the lowest condition, such as male and female slaves. As the Jews asserted that the spirit of prophecy never rested upon a poor man, these words are quoted to show that, under the Gospel dispensation, neither bond nor free, male nor female, is excluded from sharing in the gifts and graces of the Divine Spirit.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And on my servants - The Hebrew text in…
And on my servants - The Hebrew text in Joel is “upon the servants.” The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, however, render it “on my servants.” In Joel, the prophet would seem to be enumerating the different conditions and ranks of society. The influences of the Spirit would be confined to no class; they would descend on old and young, and even on servants and handmaids. So the Chaldee Paraphrase understood it. But the Septuagint and Peter evidently understood it in the sense of servants of God, as the worshippers of God are often called servants in the Scriptures. See Rom 1:1. It is possible, however, that Joel intended to refer to the servants of God. It is not “upon your servants,” etc., as in the former expression, “your sons,” etc.; but the form is changed, “upon servants and handmaids.” The language, therefore, will admit the construction of the Septuagint and of Peter; and it was this variation in the original Hebrew which suggested, doubtless, the mention of “my servants,” etc., instead of your servants.
And on my handmaids - Female servants. The name is several times given to pious women, Psa 86:16; Psa 116:16; Luk 1:38, Luk 1:48. The meaning of this verse does not materially differ from the former. In the times of the gospel, those who were brought under its influence would be remarkably endowed with ability to declare the will of God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 18. My servants… my handmaidens—The words in the Old…
18. My servants… my handmaidens—The words in the Old Testament signify servants or slaves, male and female; and the meaning is, that the Spirit shall condescend to the lowest rank. But Peter, in a true New Testament spirit, inserting the my, elevates them into God’s servants and hand-maids.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 18. and on my servants, &c.] The conjunctions of…
18. and on my servants, &c.] The conjunctions of the original demand a stronger rendering. Yea and, &c.
and they shall prophesy] See Act_19:6, where this is the result of the gift of the Spirit; cf. also Agabus (Act_11:28), and the daughters of Philip the Evangelist (Act_21:9).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (18) And on my servants and on my handmaidens…
(18) And on my servants and on my handmaidens . . .—This was the culminating point of the joyous prediction. Not on priests only, or those who had been trained in the schools of the prophets, but on slaves, male and female, should that gift be poured by Him who was no respecter of persons. The life of Amos, the herdsman of Tekoa, the “gatherer of sycomore fruit” (Amo_1:1; Amo_7:14), was, perhaps, the earliest example of the gift so bestowed. The apostolic age must have witnessed many. The fisherman of Galilee, who was now speaking, was the forerunner of thousands in whom the teaching of the Spirit has superseded the training of the schools.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Yea and for and, A.V.; pour forth for pour…
Yea and for and, A.V.; pour forth for pour out, A.V.; in those days will I pour for I will pour in those days, A.V. And they shall prophesy. These words are not found in the Hebrew or the LXX The LXX differ from the Hebrew in the addition of mou after doulouv and doulav. The Hebrew has merely "the servants and the handmaids," men and women of servile condition.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes on verse 16
See notes on verse 16
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Peter continues to quote the prophet Joel.
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my servants and my female servants
"both my male and my female servants." These words emphasize that God will pour out his Spirit on all of his servants, both men and women.
I will pour out my Spirit
Here the words "pour out" mean to give generously and abundantly. See how you translated this in Acts 2:17. AT: "I will give my Spirit abundantly to all people" (See: Idiom)
vapor of smoke
"thick smoke" or "clouds of smoke"
translationWords
servant
Holy Spirit
prophet
miracle
heaven
sign
blood
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.