Acts 2:33

Act_2:33-36

Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted.

The right hand of God

The phrase imports--

I. The unspeakable felicity into which Christs human nature--for it is of Christ incarnate that this is said, and as the reward of His sufferings as a man--had now entered; for in Thy presence is fulness of joy, etc. (Psa_16:11).

II. The glorious majesty to which He had reached (Heb_1:3; Heb_8:1).

III. The fulness of power with which He is invested who has declared, All power is given unto Me, etc. (Mat_28:18). (See Psa_20:6; Psa_89:13; Mat_26:64).

IV. The judicial throne on which He sits (Rom_14:9-10). (D. Whitby, D. D.)

The ascension and its meaning

Peter shows--

I. That it had taken place in fulfilment of prophecy. Again the particular prediction is taken from David. It is a passage applied by Jesus to Himself, to the confusion of the Pharisees, whose silence was a confession of its Messianic character (Mat_22:42-46). Its fulfilment was by the power of God. The hand is that part of the body by which man puts forth his strength, and the right hand is superior to the left; and God, condescending to human ways of speech, represents the exercise of His power as the work of His right hand. Creation was done by a word; but this concluding act of redemption demanded the putting forth of Jehovahs power.

II. That it had taken the Redeemer to His heavenly condition. He was exalted, that He might sit at the right hand of God (cf. Mat_26:64; Rom_8:34; Heb_1:3; Heb_8:1). This condition is marked by--

1. A continuous quiet dominion.

(1) He has dominion, being at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and that dominion involves all authority in heaven and in earth.

(2) But He rules in quietness and rest. Having finished His great work, He sits. Angels, being evermore on duty (Heb_1:14), stand about the throne. God says not to them, Sit on My right hand.

(3) This dominion will continue until its Mediatorship has answered its purpose.

2. Perfect happiness (Psa_16:11). The great joy had been set before Him, and had sustained Him in sorrow. Let His consummate blessedness show as the good placed within the reach of man.

3. The subduing of His foes. The allusion is to the ancient custom of conquerors to set their feet upon the necks of the vanquished.

Who are His foes?

1. The Jews, who were subdued when their nationality was destroyed.

2. The Romans, who were subdued when their empire was comprehended in Christendom.

3. The pagans, that still remain. These will be subdued when the gospel has been preached to all nations for a witness.

4. Men and women in Christendom who still reject Him. They also will see their folly and sin, and acknowledge Him either too soon or too late.

5. Sin and Satan, but these will be cast out.

6. Death. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

III. That it was declared to have taken place by events now transpiring. He hath shed forth this, etc. These events--

1. Showed that the Holy Spirit had been given. This Peter does not tire of repeating. Its importance demanded its repetition, and does so still. But Jesus had said that unless He went to the Father the Holy Spirit would not come. Therefore His manifest presence proved the ascension.

2. Were a fulfilment of the Fathers promise. The promise made through the prophets had been repeated to Jesus, and by Him to the apostles; and He was now gone to receive what was promised. This was the simple, straightforward explanation of what was happening.

3. Were brought about by Jesus Himself. He hath shed. During His ministry He had wrought unnumbered miracles, every one of which displayed Divine power, and He was but continuing what He had begun (Eph_4:8).

4. Were in themselves wonderful. This which ye now see and hear. Explanation was not attempted. What was seen and heard was enough to work conviction.

IV. In the ascension Peter finds the concluding-point of his argument--viz., that Jesus was Lord and Christ. Then they had crucified the Messiah. No wonder they were pricked in the heart. In conclusion, see here--

1. The means to be employed by preachers: the facts M history and experience, with interpretations from the Word of God.

2. The end to be aimed at by preachers--that personal conviction which prepares sinners to accept Christ. (W. Hudson.)

The exaltation of Christ

He is there at the right hand of God, above all principality and power, and every name that is named. He is not there among the patriarchs; He is higher up. He is not there among the martyrs; He is higher up. He is not there among the prophets; He is higher up. He is not there among the four and twenty elders; He is higher up. He is not there with the four living beings that are immediately surrounding the throne; He is higher up. He is at the right hand, in the midst of the throne, literally over all, God-blessed for ever. That throne will never be called the throne of God and the patriarchs, or the throne of God and the prophets, or the throne of God and the angels, or the throne of God and the martyrs, but it will evermore be called the throne of God and of the Lamb; for He that giveth not His glory to another has taken Him unto that throne, and at that throne He stands as the Lamb that was slain, bearing upon Him in the central seat of glory and brightness the dark tokens of death: the dear tokens of His passion still His dazzling body bears, and from that centre of authority He hath poured out, He hath shed forth that which now ye do see and hear. (W. Arthur, M. A.)

He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.--

The effusion of the Spirit

I. The promises of the spirit, under preceding dispensations. As the prophecies of Christ served to identify the Messiah on His manifestation in the flesh, and prove His Divine mission, so these predictions of the coming and agency of the Holy Ghost in the ancient Scriptures of the Jewish people, conspire, with the facts afterwards to be noticed as the accomplishment of them, to show that it is a Divine energy from on high which is now amongst us of a truth.

II. The communication of the Holy Ghost from the hands of the exalted Redeemer.

1. The work of the Holy Ghost is essentially connected with the work of Christ. Of old the Spirit was given to foretell it, but His greater province was to attest and apply it.

2. This communication of the Spirit from the hands of the exalted Saviour makes distinctly manifest what is everywhere implied in Scripture--that the gift of the Holy Ghost is a purely gratuitous and gracious bestowment.

III. What is stated to be the nature of the work of the Holy Ghost in the Church. What were those manifestations thus dispensed from the hands of the Redeemer, of which we read in Scripture, and some of which are matters of observation or of consciousness still?

1. There were those supernatural endowments, called in Scripture Spiritual gifts, which first proclaimed the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church.

2. With this stands closely connected the inspiration of the apostles. The system of truth which the spiritual gifts were to attest was that of which they were the professed expositors; and it was in the train of their ministry that these manifestations appeared.

3. We have further to advert to that, to which all that we have been dwelling upon is but subservient, as means to the end--the manifestation of that new element of spiritual life which sprung up in connection with the exhibition of apostolic truth, and which is ascribed in Scripture to the application of that truth to the soul by the Holy Ghost. The first work of the Spirit, of which we have spoken, was chiefly for attestation; the second, for instruction; this third, for regeneration and salvation. And if the Spirit appears glorious in His gifts and diversities of miraculous working, and as the source of inspiration in the apostles and prophets, much more is it so when we view Him as the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and as establishing a law within the renewed soul, which makes it free from the law of sin and death. (E. T. Priest.)

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

The Lordship of Christ

I. The apostle applies himself to his auditory in a fair, gentle manner. We have a word amongst us in familiar use--compliment; and for the most part in an ill sense, for the heart of a speaker does not always answer his tongue. But God forbid but a true heart and a fair tongue might very well consist together. He aggravates his condemnation who gives me fair words and means ill; but he gives me a rich jewel in a choice cabinet, precious wine in a clean glass, who intends and expresses his good intentions well.

II. So the apostle is civil here; but his civility does not amount to flattery; and therefore, though he gives his audience their titles, he puts home to them the crucifying of Christ. How honourably soever they were descended, he lays that murder close to their consciences. It is one thing to sew pillows under the elbows of kings, as flatterers do, and another to pull the chair from under them, as seditious men do. When inferiors insult over their superiors, we tell them they are the Lords anointed; and when such superiors insult over the Lord Himself, we must tell them, Though you be the Lords anointed, yet you crucify the anointed Lord; for this was Peters method, though his successor will not be bound by it.

III. When he hath carried the matter thus evenly between them, he announces a message. Let all the house of Israel know assuredly. Need the house of Israel know anything? Need the honourable to be instructed? Yes, for this knowledge is such that the house of Israel is without a foundation if it be without it. Let no Church or man think that he hath done enough or known enough. The wisest must know more, though they be the house of Israel; and then, though you have crucified Christ, you may know it. St. Paul says, If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory (1Co_2:8); but he never says they are excluded from the knowledge. The wisest have ever something to learn; they must not presume. The sinfullest have God ever ready to teach them; they must not despair. Now the universality of this mercy God has extended very far, in that He proposes it even to our knowledge: Let all know it. And therefore it is not enough for us to tell you except you believe all this you shall be damned, without we execute that commission before, Go and preach; and it is not enough for you to rest in imaginary faith and easiness of believing, except you know what, why, and how you believe. The implicit believer stands in an open field, and the enemy will ride over him easily; the understanding believer is a fenced town, and hath outworks to lose before the town be pressed--i.e., reasons to be answered before his faith be shaked. Let all men know--i.e., inform themselves and understand.

IV. The particular which all were to know was that this same Jesus whom they crucified was exalted. Suppose an impossibility: if we could have been in paradise, and seen God make of a clod a body fit for an immortal soul--fit for God the Son to dwell in, and fit for a temple of the Holy Ghost, should we not have wondered more than at the production of all other creatures? It is more that this same crucified Jesus should be exalted to the right hand of the glorious God. Let, then, sinners pass through their several sins, and remember with wonder and confusion that the Jesus whom they have crucified is exalted above all. How far exalted? Three steps carry Him above St. Pauls third heaven.

1. God made Him so, not nature. The contract between the Father and Him that all He did should be done so--this is what hath exalted Him, and us in Him.

2. God made Him Christ--i.e., anointed Him above His fellows.

3. God made Him Lord. But what kind of Lord, if He had no subjects? God hath given Him these too (Rom_14:9). (J. Donne, D. D.)

Jesus as Lord11

We are apt to let this idea slip. As soon as we have apprehended Christ as Saviour, we suppose sometimes that the work is done; whereas it is but just begun. Christ is Saviour in order that He may be King. He saves us first, because that is the only effective way of ruling over us. He cannot capture man and bring him into subjection, except by laying hold of mans heart. It is love that changes, and love that rules. One of our best story-tellers has taken us into a Californian camp. They were a hard, fighting, swearing set, those gold-diggers. But a baby was born into the camp, and these rough men were allowed to go and look at the little babe; and there was one man put his finger down, and the babys hand wound round it, and seemed to thrill his rough, coarse nature with a new love. The man was changed; the camp was changed. It was love that did it. Love is Christs method; rule His end. If Christ does not rule men, He has failed in the purpose that called Him here. All living things need a ruling force. The body is useless without the brain to direct its movements; the family fail when father and mother die; an army is powerless when there is no one to give orders; a state is the home of miserable factions when there is no recognised authority; and humanity itself is but a series of disjointed individuals, until Christ is crowned Lord of man and King of the world. Christian men are forgetting Christs world-wide Lordship and universal claims; and these claims must be pressed home on the hearts and consciences of men until they fully acknowledge Jesus as Lord.

I. Lord of man.

1. Ruling mans body, with its passions and inclinations.

2. Guiding mans mind, preserving the intellect from sophistry, the conscience from error, the heart from corruption.

II. Lord of woman.

1. Touching her tender heart with a deeper pathos for the sufferings of the world.

2. Making her mans helpmeet in all that is pure and ennobling.

3. Enabling her, with man, to deal with all that is evil in society and degrading in public sentiment.

III. Lord of the child.

1. Alluring the young life along paths of obedience and self-denial and thoughtfulness.

2. Yet filling the lap with buttercups and daises, and merriment and laughter. Suffer little children, etc.

IV. Lord of the home. Determining its--

1. Expenditure.

2. Giving.

3. Habits.

4. Prayers.

5. Purposes, and binding parents, children, servants, into one holy fellowship.

V. Lord of the Church. Giving--

1. Truth to feed the mind.

2. Grace to support the life.

3. Wisdom to guide the judgment.

4. Reverence to lift up the soul in worship.

5. Enthusiasm to inspire the work.

6. A peaceful spirit, binding all together by our golden chain of loving brotherhood.

VI. Lord of the state.

1. Decreeing justice to all.

2. Bringing law into harmony with Divine teaching.

3. Lifting up the poor and abasing the proud.

4. Rebuking the evil doers, and overturning all iniquity.

VII. Lord of the world.

1. Driving back the darkness.

2. Destroying false religion and bringing in the true.

3. Making the world like heaven.

Conclusion: That Lordship of Christ will not let us put on and put off religion with our Sunday clothes. It bids us take Christ with us, not merely to religious work, but so to take Him that all work should be religious. It calls upon Christians to be the subjects of Christ everywhere; to obey Christ in business, in the home, in politics, in reading, in talking, in laughing, in giving, in dying. There is a majesty about this name that men have not yet felt. (S. Pearson, M. A.)

The name above every name

These names, to us very little more than three proper names, were very different to these men who listened to Peter. It wanted some courage to proclaim on the housetop what he had spoken in the ear long ago. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God! To most of his listeners, to say, Jesus is the Christ was folly, and to say Jesus is the Lord was blasphemy.

I. The name Jesus is the name of the man, which tells us of a brother.

1. There were many who bore it in His day. We find that one of the early Christians had it (Col_4:11). Through reverence on the part of Christians, and horror on the part of Jews, the name ceased to be a common one. But none of all the crowds who knew Him supposed that in His name there was any greater significance than in those of the Simons, Johns, and Judahs in the circle of His disciples.

2. The use of Jesus as the proper name of our Lord is very noticeable. In the Gospels, as a rule, it stands alone hundreds of times, whilst in combination with any other of the titles it is rare. Jesus Christ only occurs twice in Matthew, once in Mark, twice in John. But in the later books, the proportions are reversed. There you have hundreds of such combinations as Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, The Lord Jesus, Christ the Lord, and not frequently the full solemn title, The Lord Jesus Christ. But Jesus alone only occurs some thirty or forty times outside of the four evangelists; and in these the writers intention is to put strong emphasis on the Manhood of our Lord.

(1) We find phrases like this: Jesus died, the blood of Jesus, which emphasise His death as that of a man like ourselves, and bring us close to the reality of His human pains for us. Christ died makes the purpose and efficacy of His death more plain; but Jesus died shows us His death as the outcome of His human love. I know that a certain school dwells a great deal too much for reverence upon the mere physical aspect of Christs sufferings. But the temptation with most of us is to dwell too little upon it, to think about it as a matter of speculation, a mysterious power, an official act of the Messiah, and to forget that He bore a human life, which naturally shrank from the agony of death.

(2) When our Lord is set before us in His humanity as our example, this name is used--e.g., Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith--i.e., a mighty stimulus to Christian nobleness lies in the realisation of the true manhood of our Lord, as the type of all goodness, as having Himself lived by faith, and that in a perfect degree and manner. Do not take poor human creatures for your ideal. Black veins are in the purest marble, and flaws in the most lustrous diamonds; but to imitate Jesus is freedom, and to be like Him is perfection. Our code of morals is His life. The secret of all progress is, Run, looking unto Jesus.

(3) We have His manhood emphasised when His sympathy is to be commended to our hearts. The great High Priest is Jesus… who was in all points tempted like as we are. To every sorrowing soul there comes the thought, Every ill that flesh is heir to He knows by experience, and in the man Jesus we find not only the pity of a God, but the sympathy of a Brother. The Prince of Wales once went for an afternoon into the slums, and everybody said deservedly, right and princely. This Prince has learned pity in the huts where poor men lie.

(4) And then you read such words as these: If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. How very much closer to our hearts that consolation comes, Jesus rose again, than even the mighty word, Christ is risen from the dead. The one tells us of the risen Redeemer, the other tells us of the risen Brother. And wherever we follow our dear ones into the darkness with yearning hearts, there, too, the consolation comes; they lie down beside their Brother, and with their Brother they shall rise again.

(5) So again, most strikingly, in the words which paint most loftily the exaltation of the risen Saviour, it is the old human name that is used, as if to bind together the humiliation and the, exaltation, and proclaim that a Man had risen to the throne of the universe. What an emphasis and glow of hope there is in, We see not yet all things put under Him, but we see Jesus--the very Man that was here with us--crowned with glory and honour. So in the Book of the Revelation, the chosen name for Him that sits amidst the glories of the heavens, and settles the destinies of the universe, and orders the course of history, is Jesus. As if the apostle would assure us that the face which looked down upon him from amidst the blaze of the glory was indeed the face that he knew long ago upon earth, and the breast that was girded with a golden girdle was the breast upon which he so often had leaned his happy head.

3. So the ties that bind us to the Man Jesus should be the human bonds that knit us one to another, transferred to Him, and purified and strengthened. All that we have failed to find in men we can find in Him.

(1) Human wisdom has its limits; but here is a Man whose word is truth, who is Himself the truth.

(2) Human love is sometimes hollow, often impotent; it looks down upon us, as a great thinker has said, like the Venus of Milo, that lovely statue, smiling in pity, but it has no arms. But here is a love that is mighty to help, and on which we can rely without disappointment or loss.

(3) Human excellence is always limited and imperfect; but here is One whom we may imitate and be pure.

4. So let us do like that poor woman, bring the precious alabaster box of ointment--the love of these hearts of ours, which is the most precious thing we have to give. The box of ointment that we have so often squandered upon unworthy heads--let us come and pour it upon His, not unmingled with our tears, and anoint Him, our Beloved and our King.

II. The name Christ is the name of office, and brings to us a redeemer. It is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew Messias, both meaning the Anointed. I cannot see less in the contents of the prophetic idea of the Messias than these points: Divine inspiration or anointing; a sufferer who is to redeem; the fulfiller of all the rapturous visions of psalmist and of prophet in the past. And so, when Peter stood up amongst that congregation and said, The Man that died on the Cross, the Rabbi-peasant from half-heathen Galilee, is the Person whom all the generations have been looking forward to, no wonder that nobody believed him except those whose hearts were touched, for it is never possible for the common mind, at any epoch, to believe that the man that stands beside them is very much bigger than themselves. Great men have always to die, and get a halo of distance around them before their true stature can be seen. And now two remarks are all I can offer.

1. The hearty recognition of His Messiahship is the centre of all discipleship. The earliest and the simplest Christian creed, which yet--like the little brown roll in which the infant beech leaves lie folded up--contains in itself all the rest, was this: Jesus is Christ. He who contents himself with Jesus and does not grasp Christ, has cast away the most valuable and characteristic part of the Christianity which he professes. Surely the most simple inference is that a Christian is at least a man who recognises the Christship of Jesus. And it is not enough for the sustenance of your souls that men should admire, howsoever profoundly, the humanity of the Lord unless that humanity leads them on to see the office of the Messiah, to whom their whole hearts cleave. Jesus is the Christ is the minimum Christian creed.

2. The recognition of Jesus as Christ is essential to giving its full value to the facts of the manhood.

(1) Jesus died. Yes! What then? If that is simply a human death, like all the rest, I want to know what makes it a gospel? What more interest I have in it than I have in the death of any men or women whose names were in the obituary column of yesterdays newspaper? Jesus died. That is the fact. What is wanted to turn the fact into a gospel? That I shall know who it was that died, and why He died. I declare unto you the gospel which I preach, Paul says, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. The belief that the death of Jesus was the death of the Christ is needful to make that death the means of my deliverance from the burden of sin. If it be only the death of Jesus, it is beautiful, pathetic, as many another martyrs has been; but if it be the death of Christ, then my faith can lay her hand on that great sacrifice, and know her guilt was there.

(2) So in regard of His perfect example. To only see His manhood would be as paralysing as spectacles of supreme excellence usually are. But when we can say, Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, and so can deepen the thought of His Manhood into that of His Messiahship, and the conception of His work as example into that of His work as sacrifice, we can hope that His Divine power will dwell in us to mould our lives to the likeness of His human life of perfect obedience.

(3) So in regard to His resurrection and ascension. If it were only Jesus, those events might be as much to us as the raising of Lazarus, or the rapture of Elijah--namely, a demonstration that death did not destroy conscious being, and that a man could rise to heaven. But if Christ is risen from the dead, He is become the first-fruits of them that slept. If Jesus has gone up on high, it may show that manhood is not incapable of elevation to heaven, but it has no power to draw others up after it. But if Christ is gone up, He is gone to prepare a place for us, and His ascension is the assurance that He will lift us too to dwell with Him, and share His triumph over death and sin.

III. The Lord is the name of dignity, and brings before us the King. There are three grades of dignity expressed by this word in the New Testament. The lowest is that in which it is almost the equivalent of Sir; the second is that in which it expresses dignity and authority; the third is that in which it is the equivalent of the Old Testament Lord as a Divine name; and all are applied to Christ. The central one is the meaning of the word here.

1. Jesus is Lord--i.e., the manhood is exalted to supreme dignity. It is the teaching of the New Testament, that our nature in the Child of Mary sits on the throne of the universe and rules over all things. Trust His dominion and rejoice in His rule, and bow before His authority.

2. Christ is Lord--i.e., His sovereign authority and dominion are built upon the fact of His being Redeemer and Sacrifice. His kingdom rests upon His suffering. Wherefore God also hath exalted Him, and given Him a name that is above every name. It is because He bears a vesture dipped in blood, that on the vesture is the name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords. Because He has given His life for the world, He is Master of the world.

Conclusion: Do not content yourselves with a maimed Christ.

1. Do not tarry in the Manhood; do not be content with an adoring reverence for the nobility of His soul, the wisdom of His words, the beauty of His character, the tenderness of His compassion. All that will be of small help for your needs. There is more in His mission than that--even His death for you and for all men.

2. Take Him for your Christ, but do not lose the Person in the work, any more than you lose the work in the Person. And be not content with an intellectual recognition of Him, but bring Him the faith which cleaves to Him and His work as its only hope and peace, and the love which, because of His work as Christ, flows out to the beloved Person who has done it all.

3. Thus loving Jesus and trusting Christ, you will bring obedience to your Lord and homage to your King, and learn the sweetness and power of the name that is above every name--the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. (A. Maclaren, D. D)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 2:33. Τῇ δεξιᾷ) So also in ch. Act 5:31, “Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour.” The Hebrew לימין is rendered by the LXX. usually ἐκ δεξιῶν; and so also in Psa 110:1, the passage to which Peter refers, and yet uses the expression τῇ δεξιᾷ, which is found once in the LXX., Isa 63:12. Christ was exalted by the right hand of GOD to the right hand of God.—οὖν, therefore) The resurrection of Christ having been established, His ascension cannot be called in question. For this reason it is first asserted by itself, and next is also established from the 110th Psalm.—ὑψωθεὶς, having been exalted) The exaltation strictly took place at His ascension.—ἐξέχεε, He poured out) See Act 2:17.—τοῦτο ὅ νῦν) The more recent MSS. of the Latin Vulg. have “hunc, quem,” instead of “hoc quod nunc.” They understand πνεῦμα (Neut.), “spiritum” (Masc). The neuter gender in Greek is expressed by the masculine in Latin. Moreover the phrase is absolute, this (τοῦτο), elegantly denoting the newness (the unprecedented character) of this unspeakable gift.[16] Irenæu[17] has νῦν, now, which has been omitted by some.[18]—ΒΛΈΠΕΤΕ ΚΑῚ ἉΚΌΥΕΤΕ, ye see and hear) Ye have testimonies to the facts which are not to be ‘mocked’ at (Act 2:13).

[16] Τοῦτο ὃ is the reading of ABC and D corrected. But good MSS. of Vulg. “hoc donum quod:” so also e: and E, τοῦτο τὸ δῶρον: also Iren. and Cypr. The oldest MS. of Vulg. (Amiat.) has “hunc quem.”—E. and T.

[17] renæus (of Lyons, in Gaul: born about 130 A.D., and died about the end of the second century). The Editio Renati Massueti, Parisinæ, a. 1710.

[18] So also Ee and Rec. Text have νῦν. But ABC and D, corrected, omit it.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_2:33. Οὖν] namely, in consequence of the resurrection, with which the exaltation is necessarily connected.

τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ] by the right hand, i.e. by the power of God, v. 31; Isa_63:12. Comp. Vulgate, Luther, Castalio, Beza, Bengel, also Zeller, p. 502, and others. The rendering: to the right hand of God, however much it might be recommended as regards sense by Act_2:34, is to be rejected, seeing that the construction of simple verbs of motion with the dative of the goal aimed at, instead of with πρός or εἰς, belongs in classical Greek only to the poets (see the passages from Homer in Nägelsb. p. 12, ed. 3, and, besides, Erfurdt, ad Antig. 234; Bernhardy, p. 95; Fritzsche, Conject. I. p. 42, the latter seeking to defend the use as legitimate), and occurs, indeed, in late writers[132] (see Winer, p. 201 f.[E. T. 268 f.]), but is without any certain example in the N. T., often as there would have been occasion for it; for Act_21:16 admits of another explanation, and Rev_2:16 is not at all a case in point. In the passage of the LXX. Jdg_11:18, deemed certain by Fritzsche, τῇ γῇ Μωάβ (if the reading is correct) is to be connected, not with ἦλθεν, but as appropriating dative with ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου. Concerning Κύρῳ ἰέναι, Xen. Anab. i. 2. 26, see Bornemann, ed. Lips. The objection, that by the right hand of God is here inappropriate (de Wette and others), is not tenable. There is something triumphant in the element emphatically prefixed, which is correlative to ἀνέστησεν ὁ Θεός (Act_2:32); Gods work of power was, as the resurrection, so also the exaltation. Comp. Php_2:9. A Hebraism, or an incorrect translation of לְמִינִי (Bleek in the Stud. u. Krit. 1832, p. 1038; de Wette; Weiss, Petr. Lehrbegr. p. 205), has been unnecessarily and arbitrarily assumed.

τήν τε ἐπαγγ. τ. ἁγ. πν. λαβ. παρὰ τ. πατρ.] contains that which followed upon the ὙΨΩΘΕΊς, and hence is not to be explained with Kuinoel and others: after He had received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father; but: after He had received the (in the O. T.) promised (Act_1:4) Holy Spirit from His Father. See on Luk_24:49.

τοῦτο is either, with Vulgate, Erasmus, Beza, Kuinoel, and others, to be referred to the πνεῦμα ἅγιον, so that the ὅ corresponds to the explanatory id quod (Kühner, § 802. 2), orwhich, on account of the Ὅ annexed to ΤΟῦΤΟ, is more natural and more suitable to the miraculous characterit is, with Luther, Calvin, and others, to be taken as an independent neuter: He poured forth (just now) this, what ye (in effectu) see and hear (in the conduct and speech of those assembled). Accordingly, Peter leaves it to his hearers, after what had previously been remarked (τήν τε ἐπαγγ.… πατρός), themselves to infer that what was poured out was nothing else than just the πνεῦμα ἅγιον.[133]

The idea that the exalted Jesus in heaven receives from His Father and pours forth the Holy Spirit, is founded on such instructions of Christ as Joh_15:26; Joh_16:7. Comp. on Act_1:4.

[132] The dative of interest (e.g. ἔρχομαί σοι, I come for thee) has often been confounded with it. Comp. Krüger, § 48. 9. 1.

[133] It cannot, however, be said that the first congregation of disciples receives this gift without baptism (Weiss, bibl. Theol. p. 150). Those persons possessed by the Spirit were, in fact, all confessors of Christ, and it must in their case be supposed that they had already received baptism in the lifetime of our Lord, to which conclusion vv. 38, 41 point.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 2:33 . οὖν : the Ascension is a necessary sequel to the Resurrection, cf. Weiss, Leben Jesu , iii., 409 ff. and in loco . Or the word may mark the result of the assured and manifold testimony to the Resurrection, to which the Apostle had just appealed: “Confirmata resurrectione Christi, ascensio non potest in dubium vocari,” Bengel. τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ Θεοῦ : best to take the words as an instrumental dative, so in Act 5:31 , with the majority of recent commentators. On grammatical grounds it would be difficult to justify the rendering “ to the right hand ” (although taken in connection with Act 5:34 it would give very good sense), since such a combination of the dative alone is found only in the poets, and never in prose in classical Greek. The only other instances adduced, Act 21:16 and Rev 2:16 , can be otherwise explained, cf. Winer-Moulton, xxxi., p. 268. On Jdg 11:18 (LXX) quoted in support of the local rendering by Fritzsch, see Wendt’s full note in loco . The instrumental meaning follows naturally upon Act 2:32 the Ascension, as the Resurrection, was the mighty deed of God, Phi 2:9 . There is therefore no occasion to regard the expression with De Wette as a Hebraism, see Wetstein, in loco . ὑψωθείς , cf. especially Joh 12:32 , and Westcott’s note on Joh 3:14 . The word is frequently found in LXX. As Lightfoot points out, in our Lord Himself the divine law which He Himself had enunciated was fulfilled, ὁ ταπεινῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθήσεται (Luk 14:11 ; Luk 18:14 ). τήν τε ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος κ . τ . λ ., see above on Act 1:4 (Gal 3:14 ). The language of St. Peter is in agreement with, but yet independent of, that in St. John, whilst it calmly certifies the fulfilment of our Lord’s promise. ἐξέχεε : “hath poured forth,” R.V. All previous English versions except Rhem. = A.V. The verb is used in the LXX in the prophecy cited above, Joe 2:28-29 ( cf. also Zec 12:10 ), although it is not used in the Gospels of the outpouring of the Spirit. τοῦτο : either the Holy Ghost, as the Vulgate takes it, or an independent neuter “this which ye see and hear,” i.e. , in the bearing and speech of the assembled Apostles. St. Peter thus leads his hearers to infer that that which is poured out is by its effects nothing else than the Holy Ghost. It is noteworthy that just as Joel speaks of God, the Lord Jehovah, pouring out of His Spirit, so the same divine energy is here attributed by St. Peter to Jesus. See above on Act 2:17 .

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

Might and power of God.

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

Verse 33. By the right hand of God exalted] Raised by omnipotence to the highest dignity in the realms of glory, to sit at the right hand of God, and administer the laws of both worlds.

The promise of the Holy Ghost] This was the promise that he had made to them a little before he suffered, as may be seen in Joh 14:16, &c., Joh 16:7, &c., and after he had risen from the dead. Lu 24:49, and which as the apostle says was now shed forth.

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

33. He being therefore exalted by the right hand of God The right hand is taken in this place for the hand or power, in like sort as it is taken everywhere in the Scripture. For this is his drift, to declare that it was a wonderful work of God, in that he had exalted his Christ (whom men thought to be quite destroyed by death) unto so great glory.

The promise of the Spirit for the Spirit which was promised. For he had oftentimes before promised the Spirit to his apostles. Therefore Peter doth signify, that Christ had obtained power of God the Father to fulfill the same. And he maketh mention of the promise in plain words, to the end the Jews may know that this came not to pass suddenly, but that the words of the prophet were now verified, which went long time before the thing itself.

Furthermore, whereas it is said that he obtained it of the Father, it is to be applied to the person of the Mediator. For both these are truly said, that Christ sent the Spirit from himself and from the Father. He sent him from himself, because he is eternal God; from the Father, because in as much as he is man, he receiveth that of the Father which he giveth us. And Peter speaketh wisely according to the capacity of the ignorant, lest any man should move a question out of season concerning the power of Christ. And surely forasmuch as it is the office of Christ to direct us unto his Father, this is a most apt form of speaking for the use of godliness, that Christ being placed, as it were, in the midst between God and us, doth deliver unto us with his own hand those gifts which he hath received at the hands of his Father. Furthermore, we must note this order that he saith, that the Spirit was sent by Christ after that he was exalted. This agreeth with those sentences:

“The Spirit was not yet given, because Christ was not yet glorified,” (John 7:39.)

And again,

“Unless I go hence, the Spirit will not come,” (John 16:7.)

Not because the Spirit began then first to be given, wherewith the holy fathers were endued since the beginning of the world; but because God did defer this more plentiful abundance of grace, until such time as he had placed Christ in his princely seat; which is signified by this word poured out, as we saw a little before. For by this means the force and fruit of Christ his death and resurrection is sealed; and we do also thereby know, that we have lost nothing by Christ his departing out of the world; because, though he be absent in body, yet is he present with us after a better sort, to wit, by the grace of his Holy Spirit.

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.

(33) Therefore being by the right hand of God.—The Greek has the dative case without a preposition. The English version takes it, and probably is right in taking it, as the dative of the instrument, the image that underlies the phrase being that the Eternal King stretches forth His hand to raise Him who was in form His Servant to a place beside Him on His right hand; and, on the whole, this seems the best rendering. Not a few scholars, however, render the words “exalted to the right hand of God.”

Having received of the Father.—The words of St. Peter, obviously independent as they are of the Gospel of St. John, present a striking agreement with our Lord’s language as recorded by him (Joh_14:26; Joh_15:26). The promise throws us back upon these chapters, and also upon Act_1:4.

Hath shed forth this.—Better, hath poured out. The verb had not been used in the Gospels of the promise of the Spirit, but is identical with that which was found in the Greek version of Joel’s prophecy, as cited in Act_2:17, “I will pour out of My Spirit.”

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

33. Therefore being by [or at] the right hand of God exalted] i.e. into heaven. For not only are the Apostles and disciples witnesses of the Resurrection but also of the Ascension.

the promise of the Holy Ghost] called the promise of the Father in Act_1:4. Christ had told His disciples that the Father would send this gift upon them in answer to His prayer. “I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter … he shall teach you all things” (Joh_14:16; Joh_14:26).

he hath shed forth] Better, he hath poured forth. Thus the fulfilment of the prophecy is, as in the original, described by the same word which is put into the mouth of the prophet in Act_2:17.

see and hear] It would seem from this that the appearance, like as of fire, which rested upon each of them, remained visible for some time, thus making it apparent how different this was from any meteoric flashes into which some have endeavoured to explain away the miracle which St Luke describes.

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.

Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,.... After his resurrection he ascended to heaven, and was exalted in human nature; "to the right hand of God", as the Ethiopic version; and the Arabic version used by De Dieu read; an honour that never was conferred on any creature, angels or men, besides: or he was exalted and raised to the high honour and dignity of a Prince and Saviour, of Lord, Head, and King, so as to have a name, dominion, and authority over all, by the mighty power of God, which is sometimes called his right hand; see Psa 118:15.

and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost; which the Father had promised to pour forth in the last days, Isa 44:3 and which Christ had promised to send from the Father, Joh 14:16 and which, upon his ascension and exaltation, he received as Mediator from him; see Psa 68:18 compared with Eph 4:8.

he hath shed forth this; this Holy Spirit, or promised Spirit, these gifts of his; and so the Syriac version renders it, "he hath shed forth this gift"; which expresses both the plenty and abundance of the gifts bestowed, and the liberality of Christ in the donation of them: it is added,

which ye now see and hear; meaning the cloven tongues, as of fire, which they saw sitting on the disciples, and the various languages which they heard them speak. The Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions, leave out the word "now": and the Syriac, in the room of it, reads, "behold".

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

33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

Ver. 33. Exalted] {See Trapp on "Act 2:27"}

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.

Therefore, being by the right hand - The right hand among the Hebrews was often used to denote “power”; and the expression here means, not that he was exalted to the right hand of God. but by his power. He was raised from the dead by his power, and borne to heaven, triumphant over all his enemies. The use of the word “right hand” to denote “power” is common in the Scriptures: Job 40:14, “Thine own right hand can save thee”; Psa 17:7, “Thou savest by thy right hand them that trust in thee”; Psa 18:35; Psa 20:6; Psa 21:8; Psa 44:3; Psa 60:5, etc.

Exalted - Constituted King and Messiah in heaven. Raised up from his condition of humiliation to the glory which he had with the Father before the world was, Joh 17:5.

And having received ... - The Holy Spirit was promised to the disciples before his death, Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:13-15. It was expressly declared:

That the Holy Spirit would not be given except the Lord Jesus should return to heaven Joh 16:7; and, That this gift was in the power of the Father, and that he would send him, Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26. This promise was now fulfilled, and those who witnessed the extraordinary scene before them could not doubt that it was the effect of divine power.

Hath shed forth this ... - This power of speaking different languages and declaring the truth of the gospel. In this way Peter accounts for the remarkable events before them. What had occurred could not be produced by new wine, Act 2:15. It was expressly foretold, Act 2:16-21. It was predicted that Jesus would rise, Act 2:22-31. The apostles were witnesses that he had risen, and that he had promised that the Holy Spirit would descend; and the fulfillment of this promise was a rational way of accounting for the scene before them. It was unanswerable; and the effect on those who witnessed it was such as might be expected.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He hath poured forth this, which we see, and hear, by the effects, by the noise, as it were of thunder, by our speaking languages, &c. (Witham) --- It does not appear that the holy Spirit was visible to the multitude, whom St. Peter addressed. But they perceived sensible marks of his presence, in the great noise, which had called them together, and the divers tongues spoken by illiterate men, who had never studied. (Haydock)

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).

By the right hand of God, that is, by the power of God spoken after the manner of men, the right hand being that we commonly do any thing with. Some read at the right hand of God; and then the apostle preaches Christ’s ascension too, and his being justified by God, though he had been condemned by men.

Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost: Psa 68:18

Which ye now see, in the fiery cloven tongues; and hear, in the divers languages which are spoken.

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

33. Therefore—As the result of the whole.

Exalted—A clear testimony to the ascension.

Shed forth this—So that we have here Peter’s second answer to the question, (Act_2:12,) What meaneth this?—It is a manifestation sent down from the ascended Jesus Messiah. Peter now confirms the exalted Lordship of the ascended Jesus by further prophecy.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Being therefore for therefore being, A.V.; poured for shed, A.V.; see for now see, A.V. By the right hand, etc. Some render it," Being exalted to the right hand," etc.; or, "Being at the right hand of God exalted." It is very questionable whether the Greek will bear the first rendering; and it would have been more natural to express the second by eijv thn. It is best, therefore, to take it as the A.V. and the R.V do. Tile phrase is equivalent to that in Psa_98:1, "His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory," and numerous other passages. The promise of the Holy Ghost. (see Act_1:4, note)

Royal bounty.

"Being therefore," etc.

I RECEIVED OF THE FATHER. The throne of Christ is the right hand of the Father. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other." The obedience of Christ rewarded. The highest manifestation of the Divine in the Man Christ Jesus. The only true view of infinite power is that which sees it on Christ"s throne as the source of the Spirit of life. Man"s power destroys, God"s power creates and saves. The thrones of this world fall, because they are so unlike Christ"s throne.

II The HIGHEST SUMMIT which Jesus reached; to which he was exalted. He did not throw off humanity, but carried it with him. For the sake of it he endured the cross. The glory of the throne shines through the earthly scenes of his history. So we can see the summit of our blessedness beyond and through the steep sides of the earthly path. Exalted for us, Jesus shows us that there is a holy ambition which is not self-worship, but self-sacrifice. James and John were not reproved for desiring to sit beside Jesus, but for desiring it apart from Divine appointment as mere personal favor.

III THE GIFT ITSELF. He hath shed forth this, which ye see and hear." Spiritual power is given that it may be manifested; not in the world"s forms, not as ecclesiastics have claimed to exhibit it, but with Pentecostal grace distinguished men, subduing and captivating messages. The poverty of the Church without this gift. The evidence of its presence in the spirit of loyalty to the King from whose throne it descends. Christ-like power is what we want. The individual appeal: "Ye see and hear." The gift is already bestowed. Why should any be without it? An appeal (as in ver. 36) to the Crucifixion. "Ye slew him; yet he offers you his grace. Ye said, "We will not have this man to reign over us;" yet he holds out his scepter, and invites you to sit down with him on his throne." Is not this a love to put on the throne of our hearts? R.

The explanation of the signs of Pentecost.

Recall what those sensible signs had been. We may not think that the sound of the wind was still heard, and it seems hardly likely that the tongues of flame continued to rest on the heads of the disciples. But the ability to speak in foreign languages was the sign that chiefly arrested the people"s attention, and this may have continued throughout the day. Some of the audience had, no doubt, also seen the "tongues of flame." St. Peter here makes three distinct points.

I GOD HAS EXALTED JESUS OF NAZARETH. This Jesus, to whom he had been so distinctly referring. Here is an advance to a conclusion from the facts which the apostles witnessed. They declared the facts of resurrection and ascension. St. Peter now says Admit the facts, and what follows? Surely this: God has acknowledged, accepted, and exalted Jesus, so affirming his Messiahship, and entrusting him with Lordship in the new spiritual kingdom (ver. 35). In no sublime way could the Divine attestation of Jesus have been given.

II GOD HAS FULFILLED THE PROMISES MADE THROUGH CHRIST. Give, from the closing chapters of St. John"s Gospel, the promises of the Spirit as Teacher and Comforter. The truth of our Savior rested on the fulfillment of those assurances. Peter bids the people see, in Pentecostal signs, the fulfillment of both the general promise of the Spirit given through ancient prophets, and the special and precise promises of the Holy Ghost given through the Lord Jesus.

III SHOW THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT IS THE FINAL SEAL OF CHRIST"S CLAIM. He is given because Jesus is glorified. As exalted, as entrusted with holy authority and power, the Lord Jesus has "shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." The Spirit witnesses to Christ, and especially to his present claim, as Lord, to the allegiance of every heart, the surrender of every will, and the obedience of every life. R.T.

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

Being exalted by the right hand of God - By the right hand; that is, the mighty power of God. Our Lord was exalted at his ascension to God's right hand in heaven.

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

The conclusion of Peter’s sermon:

v. 33. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.

v. 34. For David is not ascended into the heavens; but he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand,

v. 35. until I make Thy foes Thy footstool.

v. 36. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ.

A powerful peroration or conclusion! After his testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus there was one more point which Peter was bound to make, namely, the proof of Christ’s exaltation into glory, with the attendant majesty and power. In this case he did not cite the testimony of the apostles’ personal witnessing, since this step of Christ’s glorification had been hidden from human eyes. But the ascension and exaltation was a necessary consequence of the resurrection. Jesus was by the right hand of God exalted, raised by the omnipotent power of God to the highest dignity in the realms of glory; Jesus received the promise of the Holy Spirit from. the Father; Jesus poured the Spirit out upon the disciples, as the Jews were now witnessing to their great astonishment, both with their eyes in seeing the tongues of fire and with their ears in hearing the unlearned fishermen declare the great wonders of God in more than a dozen languages and dialects. It was testimony of a kind which no sane man among the hearers would dream of calling into question. And this miracle of the exalted Christ was, in turn, predicted in the Old Testament, another fact which should convince them of the truth of Peter’s remarks. For David, as they well knew, had not ascended into heaven. The words therefore which he had written, Psa 110:1: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand till I place Thine enemies as a footstool for Thy feet, could not apply to David. The passage, then, as even the Jews admitted, must refer to Christ; the words had found their fulfillment in the ascension of Jesus. Having therefore, by the soundest kind of evidence, brought proof for the statements which he made in his introduction, Peter was ready for the logical, powerful conclusion and application. With convincing confidence and startling directness he appeals not only to the present hearers, but to the whole house of Israel whom they represented, to have the correct understanding of the facts brought out by his sermon, namely, that God had made that same Jesus whom they had crucified both Lord and Christ. He had made Him Lord by exalting Him to the everlasting throne of majesty and power; and He had made Him Christ by thus establishing all the prophecies of old concerning the Messiah as referring to Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus and His entire ministry were vindicated in a most glorious and incontrovertible manner. Such is the preaching of Christ which should obtain in the Christian Church at all times. That is the content of all Christian preaching: Jesus Christ, true God and man, crucified and resurrected, our Lord and Savior.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. “Therefore, exalted at the right hand of God, having received the promise of the Holy Ghost with the Father, he has poured out this which you see and hear.” You see Peter’s logic. The discussion of the Holy Ghost filling the disciples is demonstrative proof that Christ has satisfied the Father with His atonement, actually been received and ratified in heaven, crowned at the right hand of God Mediatorial King, received the Holy Ghost and sent Him down His own Revelator and Successor whom He had promised to send down.

THE AWFUL INDICTMENT

Now the illiterate fisherman faces the multitude, boldly arraigns hierarchs and politarchs for the awful crime of murdering the Son of God. The mighty logic of the Holy Ghost sweeps away all the human and Satanic refuges of lies.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 32

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.

33. He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. The supernatural marvels of this wonderful day were the proof of Christ's exaltation. He had shed them forth.

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.

33. νῦν omitted with אABCD and Vulg.

33. ὑψωθείς, exalted (into heaven), for the Apostles are witnesses not only of the Resurrection but of the Ascension also.

τήν τε ἐπαγγελίαν πν. τ. ἁγ. Called in Act 1:4 ἡ ἐπαγγελία τοῦ πατρός. The promise was made by the Father, and the Holy Ghost was the gift promised. Christ’s words were, ‘I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter’ (Joh 14:16). What was at first an ἐπαγγελία has now attained its fulfilment, so that λαβών implies the complete fruition of all that was promised.

ἐξέχεεν, He hath poured forth. Thus fulfilling the promise in the prophecy quoted Act 2:17: ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνέυματός μου.

βλέπετε καὶ ἀκούετε. It would seem from this that the appearance, like as of fire, which rested upon each of them, remained visible for some time, thus making it evident how different this was from any meteoric flashes into which some have endeavoured to explain away the miracle which St Luke describes.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33.] Peter now comes to the Ascension—the exaltation of Jesus to be, in the fullest sense, Lord and Christ.

τῇ δεξιᾷ] by the right hand, not ‘to the right hand.’ The great end of this speech is to shew forth (see above) the God of Israel as the doer of all these things. However well the sense ‘to’ might seem to agree with the ἐκ δεξιῶν of ver. 34, we must not set aside a very suitable sense, nor violate syntax (for the construction is entirely unexampled in Hellenistic as well as prose classical Greek) in order to suit an apparent adaptation. The reference is carried on by the word δεξιά, though it be not in exactly the same position in the two cases. And the ἀνέβη εἰς τοὺς οὐρ. of ver. 34 prepares the way for the ἐκ δεξιῶν following without any harshness.

On the poetic dative after verbs of approach, see Musgr., Phœnissæ, 310 (303, Matth.), and Hermann, Antig. 234. See also ch. 5:31, and Winer (who defends the construction), edn. 6, § 31. 5. Wordsw. denies that the δεξιὰ θεοῦ is ever specified in the N. T. as the instrument by which He works. But he has omitted to state that this and the similarly ambiguous place, ch. 5:31, are the only real instances of the expression being used, all the rest being local, ἐκ δεξιῶν or ἐν δεξιᾷ: so that his dictum goes for nothing. And in the LXX the use of God’s right hand as the instrument is very frequent: cf. Exo 15:6, Exo 15:12; Ps. 17:36; Psa 59:5 (where the dat. is used as here), and about 20 other places; Isa 48:13; Isa 63:12, &c. After this, the objection, when applied to a speech so full of O. T. spirit and diction as this, would, even if valid as regards the N. T., be irrelevant.

ἐπαγγελίαν] Christ is said to have received from the Father the promise above cited from Joel, which is spoken of His days. This, and not of course the declarations made by Himself to the same effect, is here referred to, though doubtless those were in Peter’s mind. The very word, ἐξέχεεν, refers to ἐκχεῶ above, ver. 17.

τοῦτο, ‘this influence,’ this merely; leaving to his hearers the inference, that this, which they saw and heard, must be none other than the effusion of the Spirit.

βλέπετε need not imply, as Dr. Burton thinks, that “there was some visible appearance, which the people saw as well as the apostles:”—very much of the effect of the descent of the Spirit would be visible,—the enthusiasm and gestures of the speakers, for instance; not, however, the tongues of flame,—for then none could have spoken as in ver. 13.

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