Acts 10:31

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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εἰσηκούσθη

eisakoúō

G1522

“to obey”

Verb, Aorist, Passive, Indicative, 3rd person, Singular

Appears 5× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 6:7

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from G1519 and G191

TDNT: 04:42,3

1. to give heed to, comply with admonition, to obey 2. to listen to, assent to, a request, to be heard, have request granted a. of persons offering prayers to God b. of prayers offered up

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

15: words
11: distinct lemmas
Acts: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is εἰσηκούσθη to obey G1522 — appearing just 5 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

εἰσηκούσθη to obey G1522 occurs in 5 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

Words recur within this verse:

ἡ the G3588 ×3
καὶ and G2532 ×2
σου you G4771 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Acts 10:31 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Acts 10:4 He, fastening his eyes on him, and being frightened, said, "What is it, Lord?" He said to him, "Your prayers and your gifts to the needy have gone up for a memorial before God.
Daniel 9:23 At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went forth, and I am come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.
Luke 1:13 But the angel said to him, "Don't be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
Isaiah 38:5 Go, and tell Hezekiah, Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears: behold, I will add to your days fifteen years.
Daniel 10:12 Then said he to me, Don't be afraid, Daniel; for from the first day that you did set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard: and I am come for your words' sake.
Revelation 8:3–4 Another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer. Much incense was given to him, that he should add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.
Leviticus 2:9 The priest shall take from the meal offering its memorial, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh.
Revelation 5:8 Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Leviticus 2:2 He shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests; and he shall take his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all its frankincense; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh.
Leviticus 5:12 He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. It is a sin offering.
Philippians 4:18 But I have all things, and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Acts 10:31 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Expositor's Greek Testament

ed. W. Robertson Nicoll

Act 10:31 . εἰσηκούσθη : perhaps “was heard” or “has been heard” is best (see Rendall and Hackett). ἡ προσ . may refer to his present prayer, as it is in the singular, but the burden of all his past prayers had doubtless been the same, cf. Act 10:33 for God’s guidance into truth. ἐμνήσθησαν , cf. LXX, Psa 19:3 , Eze 18:22 ; Eze 18:24 ; Rev 16:19 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Cornelius’s faith showeth forth itself by prayer and charity.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 31. Thy prayer is heard] See Clarke on Ac 10:4. Cornelius prayed, fasted, and gave alms. It was in this way he looked for salvation; not to purchase it: a thought of this kind does not appear to have entered into his mind; but these were the means he used to get his soul brought to the knowledge of the truth. The reader must recollect that in the case of Cornelius there was no open vision; he used the light and power which God had already given; and behold how mightily God increased his gifts! He that hath, i.e., that uses what he has, shall receive; and no man can expect any increase of light or life, who does not improve the grace already given.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(31) Thy prayer is heard.—The singular number gives a greater definiteness to the object of the prayer than in Act_10:4. It must have been, in the nature of the case, a prayer for fuller light and knowledge of the Truth. One who had heard, through Philip’s work at Cæsarea, or, it may be, through the brother-officer who had been stationed at Capernaum (Luk_7:2), of the teaching and the life of Jesus, and of the new society that acknowledged Him as its Head, may well have sought for guidance as to the special conditions of admission to that society. Philip was not as yet authorised to admit one who had not taken on himself the sign of the covenant of Israel. Was that an indispensable condition?

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard,.... What he was now particularly making to God, as well as others he had before put up to him:

and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God; See Gill on Act 10:4.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

31 And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.

Ver. 31. Cornelius, thy prayer is heard] This was a singular happiness, and a sure seal of his good estate to Godward, Psa 66:18-19 Joh 9:31. Every access to God with success, every gracious return of prayer, sealeth up this comfort to the soul, that since He that hath the keys of David hath once opened unto us not only a door of utterance, but a door of entrance to the throne of grace, it shall never be shut again any more.

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's English Annotations

Alms; of which see in Act 10:4.

In the sight of God; unto which, not only the outward gift, but the inward affection, is visible; and this is peculiarly in the sight of God, the other may be seen also by men.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Saith for said, A.V.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Thy prayer is heard - Doubtless he had been praying for instruction, how to worship God in the most acceptable manner.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

McGarvey & Pendleton's Commentaries

J. W. McGarvey

See notes on verse 30

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.

Alford’s Greek Testament

Henry Alford

31.] The two are separated here, which were placed together in ver. 4, and each has its proper verb: εἰσηκ … ἡ προσευχὴ κ. αἱ ἐλ … ἐμνήσθ.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

Marvin R. Vincent

Said [φησι] . Rev., saith. The historical present, giving vividness to the narrative.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Acts, in the Acts, opens this verse with 15 words (11 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is eisakoúō (“to obey”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to obey” (eisakoúō) shape what this verse is saying?
Matthew 6:7 shares the word «to obey» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“the” occurs 3× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
Reading how Expositor's Greek Testament and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 13 words in this verse.
“the” occurs 3× in this single verse.
11 distinct Greek lemmas span 15 words in this verse.