Acts 19:2

and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul questions a group of disciples he encountered in Ephesus about whether they received the Holy Spirit upon believing, immediately after arriving in the city while Apollos remained in Corinth.

The words — ἐλάβετε (elabete) translates literally as “did you receive,” and πνεῦμα ἅγιον (pneuma hagion) means “Holy Spirit.”

The thread — The reception of the Spirit is recorded in Acts 11:15 when it fell upon Cornelius’s household, while the Spirit’s ongoing presence in believers is noted in 1 Corinthians 6:19 and Galatians 3:5.

Why it lands — It forces a direct examination of whether one’s faith includes actual knowledge and experience of God’s Spirit, rather than relying on incomplete religious instruction.

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

He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

Cross-references

Acts 11:15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
Galatians 3:5 Does God lavish His Spirit on you and work miracles among you because you practice the law, or because you hear and believe?
John 7:39 He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
1 Samuel 3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, because the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.
Acts 19:5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 2:17 ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
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 8:15 On their arrival, they prayed for them to receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard his message.