Bible Strands
Acts 10:45
All the circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Peter and his Jewish companions witness the Holy Spirit falling on Cornelius’s household while Peter still preaches. This occurs immediately after the Spirit descends on the Gentile listeners and before Peter addresses the gathered group.
The words — ἐξέστησαν (exestēsan) means “were astounded,” describing the reaction of οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς πιστοί (hoi ek peritomēs pistoi), literally “the believers from circumcision.”
The thread — The event echoes the Pentecost outpouring in Acts 2:38 and follows Peter’s journey to Cornelius’s house in Acts 10:23. It parallels Paul’s later teaching that Christ redeemed believers from the law’s curse in Galatians 3:13.
Why it lands — The text records a historical boundary crossing that requires readers to acknowledge the Spirit’s initiative beyond ethnic lines. It demands recognition that divine favor operates independently of traditional covenant markers.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 10:23 So Peter invited them in as his guests. And the next day he got ready and went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Joppa.
- Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
- Colossians 2:13 When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,
- Acts 2:33 Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
- Acts 11:15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning.
- Galatians 2:15 We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile “sinners”
- Ephesians 2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—
- Acts 11:3 and said, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
- Ephesians 3:5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.