to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is that great power of God.”
Parallel Translations
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to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is that great power of God.”
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Whom they regarded from the lest to the greatest sayinge: this felow is the great power of God.
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To whome they gaue heede from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that great power of God.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Acts 8:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 31:34 They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh;’ for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
- 2 Peter 2:2 Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned.
- Revelation 13:3 One of his heads looked like it had been wounded fatally. His fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled at the beast.
- Jeremiah 6:13 “For from their least even to their greatest, everyone is given to covetousness. From the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.
- Jeremiah 8:10 Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to those who will possess them. For everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.
- Jonah 3:5 The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least.
- Acts 14:11 When the multitude saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying in the language of Lycaonia, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”
- Acts 28:6 But they expected that he would have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly, but when they watched for a long time and saw nothing bad happen to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
- 1 Corinthians 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God;
- 2 Corinthians 11:19 For you bear with the foolish gladly, being wise.
- Ephesians 4:14 that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 10. For the surname, great power, tendeth to this…
10. For the surname, great power, tendeth to this end, that whatsoever should otherwise be divine might wax vile through this greatness. Therefore the power of Christ appeareth hereby more plainly, in that Philip brake through these lets; which thing Luke amplifieth,
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 10 To whom they all gave heed, from the…
10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
Ver. 10. This man is the great power of God] Epiphanius saith that this varlot (knave) called himself God the Father and the Son, and his harlot Helena (a horrible thing to be spoken) the Holy Ghost. Justin Martyr witnesseth, that he had near unto Rome a statue erected, with this inscription, Simoni Deo sancto, To Simon the holy God. Prodigious boldness and baseness!
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 From the least to the greatest; showing how general…
From the least to the greatest; showing how general their mispersuasion was; and no condition is exempt from the grossest mistakes, if not prevented by the grace of God.
This man is the great power of God; it is said of this Simon, that he gave out himself to be that god, which any nation held to be the chiefest; and that he was the Messias of the Jews, and the God of the Gentiles.
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 To him they had regard,.... Which is repeated from…
To him they had regard,.... Which is repeated from the foregoing verse, for the sake of what follows:
because that of a long time he had bewitched them with sorceries; or because he had, it may be for many years, astonished them with his magic arts, and the pranks he played in the use of them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. This man is the great power of…
Verse 10. This man is the great power of God.] That is, he is invested with it, and can command and use it. They certainly did not believe him to be God; but they thought him to be endued with a great supernatural power.
There is a remarkable reading here in several MSS. which should not pass unnoticed. In ABCDE, several others, together with the AEthiopic, Armenian, later Syriac, Vulgate, Itala, Origen, and Irenaeus, the word καλουμενη is added before μεγαλη, and the passage reads thus, This person is that power of God which is CALLED the GREAT. This appears to be the true reading; but what the Samaritans meant by that power of God which they termed the Great, we know not. Simon endeavoured to persuade the people that he was a very great personage, and he succeeded.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The great power of God - Probably this means…
The great power of God - Probably this means only that they believed that he was “invested with” the power of God, not that they supposed he was really the Great God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain This man is the power of God, which is…
This man is the power of God, which is called (that is, which is truly) great. Simon pretended to be God, and the great God. See St. Irenæus, lib. i. chap. 20.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain To whom all gave heed . . . because…
To whom all gave heed . . . because of long time he had bewitched them--This, coupled with the rapidity with which they deserted him and attached themselves to Philip, shows the ripeness of Samaria for some religious change.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. This man is the great power of God]…
10. This man is the great power of God] The A. V. translates the Tex. Rec., but the best MSS. give, This man is the power of God that is called great. We can see from the language of the N. T. that “powers” was a word current to express angelic or heavenly influences (Rom_8:38; 1Pe_3:22); and without assuming such a partition of the celestial host as is seen in the later Alexandrine writings we can understand the thought of these Samaritans that in Simon they had an incarnation of Divine power, which deserved the title of great preeminently.
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 (10) To whom they all gave heed, from the…
(10) To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest.—The ready acceptance of the claims of the pretender, may, in part, be traced to the impression made by the presence of “the Christ, the Saviour of the world” (Joh_4:42). If One had come among them in whom they felt that there was a more than human greatness, why might there not be another manifestation of a like nature? The sorcerer appears as the earliest type of those who were to come with lying signs and wonders so as to deceive, if it were possible, even the elect (Mat_24:24; 2Th_2:9).
This man is the great power of God.—The better MSS. give, “This is the Power of God that is called great.” The word “Powers” was used by the Samaritans of the angels or hosts of God, and they probably recognised Simon as one of these and as of special pre-eminence.
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 That power of God which is called Great for…
That power of God which is called Great for the great power of God, A.V. and T.R. That power of God, etc. The revised text inserts kaloumenh before megalh. Origen says of Simon that his disciples, the Simoniaus, called him "The Power of God." ("Contra Cels.," lib. 5:62, where see Delarue"s note). According to Tertullian ("De Anima"), he gave himself out as the supreme Father, with other blasphemies. According to St. Jerome on Mat_24:5, he speaks of himself in different writings as the Word of God, as the Paraclete, the Almighty, the Fullness of God.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 10. This man is the great power of God.…
10. This man is the great power of God. Unable to explain the things that he did, the Samaritans ascribed them to divine power manifested through Simon.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes on verse 6
See notes on verse 6
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.