Bible Strands
Acts 8:10
and all the people, from the least to the greatest, heeded his words and said, “This man is the divine power called the Great Power.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator reports the Samaritan crowd responding to Simon after he practiced sorcery and claimed greatness. The people, spanning every social rank, direct their sustained attention and verbal declaration toward him.
The words — προσεῖχον (proseichon) literally means “were giving heed,” describing the crowd’s focused attention. λέγοντες (legontes) translates as “saying,” introducing their collective declaration that he possesses divine power.
The thread — The phrase “from the least to the greatest” mirrors the universal divine knowledge promised in Jeremiah 31:34, while the crowd’s rapid alignment with a human claimant parallels the deceptive followings warned in 2 Peter 2:2 and Revelation 13:3.
Why it lands — The text records a mass alignment with a human claimant to divine status rather than a verified revelation. Readers must distinguish between sustained attention to spectacular displays and accurate discernment of spiritual authority.
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
To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 31:34 No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
- 2 Peter 2:2 Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.
- Revelation 13:3 One of the heads of the beast appeared to have been mortally wounded. But the mortal wound was healed, and the whole world marveled and followed the beast.
- Jeremiah 6:13 “For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
- Jeremiah 8:10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
- Jonah 3:5 And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
- Acts 14:11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
- Acts 28:6 The islanders were expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
- 1 Corinthians 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
- 2 Corinthians 11:19 For you gladly put up with fools, since you are so wise.