Now on that day a great² persecution began³ against the church in Jerusalem,⁴ and all⁵ except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions⁶ of Judea and Samaria. ^8:2Some⁷ devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation⁸ over him.⁹^8:3But Saul was trying to destroy¹⁰ the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off¹¹ both men and women and put them in prison.¹²

Philip Preaches in Samaria

^8:4Now those who had been forced to scatter went around proclaiming the good news of the word. ^8:5Philip went down to the main city of Samaria¹³ and began proclaiming¹⁴ the Christ¹⁵ to them. ^8:6The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what Philip said,¹⁶ as they heard and saw the miraculous signs¹⁷ he was performing. ^8:7For unclean spirits,¹⁸ crying with loud shrieks, were coming out of many who were possessed,¹⁹ and many paralyzed and lame people were healed. ^8:8So there was²⁰ great joy²¹ in that city.

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Footnotes

1 The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesis) can refer to murder ( ; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, 5.2.12 [5.165]).
2 Or “severe.”
3 Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”
4 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
5 All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6–8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.
6 Or “countryside.”
7 “Some” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
8 Made loud lamentation. For someone who was stoned to death, lamentation was normally not allowed ( Sanhedrin 6:6). The remark points to an unjust death.
9 Or “mourned greatly for him.”
10 Or “began to harm [the church] severely.” If the nuance of this verb is “destroy,” then the imperfect verb ἐλυμαίνετο (elumaineto) is best translated as a conative imperfect as in the translation above. If instead the verb is taken to mean “injure severely” (as L&N 20.24), it should be translated in context as an ingressive imperfect (“began to harm the church severely”). Either option does not significantly alter the overall meaning, since it is clear from the stated actions of Saul in the second half of the verse that he intended to destroy or ravage the church.
11 The participle σύρων (surōn) has been translated as an finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
12 παραδίδωμι 1.b has “εἰς φυλακήν put in prison Ac 8:3.”
13 The word “main” is supplied in the translation to clarify that “Samaria” is not the name of the city (at least in NT times). See both Σαμάρεια and L&N 93.568. The main city of Samaria most likely refers to the principal city of Samaria, rebuilt by Herod the Great as Sebaste in honor of Augustus (J. Boehmer, “Studien zur Geographie Palästinas bes. im Neuen Testament,” 9 [1908]: 216–18; D. Gill and C. Gempf, eds., The Book of Acts in its Graeco-Roman Setting, 272). This is the best option if the article before “city” is taken as original. If the reading without the article is taken as original, then another city may be in view: Gitta, the hometown of Simon Magus according to Justin Martyr (cf. C. K. Barrett, Acts [], 1:; F. F. Bruce, Acts [], ).
14 The imperfect ἐκήρυσσεν (ekērussen) has been translated as an ingressive, since this is probably the first time such preaching took place.
15 Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” See the note on Christ in .
16 Grk “to what was being said by Philip,” a passive construction that has been changed to active voice in the translation.
17 Here the following context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned. This term appears 13 times in Acts, but only twice more after Acts 8:13 (i.e., 14:3; 15:12).
18 The expression unclean spirits refers to evil supernatural spirits which were ceremonially unclean, and which caused the persons possessed by them to be ceremonially unclean.
19 Grk “For [in the case of] many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out, crying in a loud voice.”
20 Grk “and there came about,” but this is somewhat awkward in English.
21 Great joy. The reason for eschatological joy was that such events pointed to God’s decisive deliverance (Luke 7:22–23). Note how the acts of healing extend beyond the Twelve here.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And Saul approved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

And Saul approved of their killing him.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.

So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the word. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds were all paying attention to what Philip said, as they listened and saw the signs he was performing. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.

NLTNew Living Translation

Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.

A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.) But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.

But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Saul was agreeing with his murder. Now there happened on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul was attempting to destroy the church. Entering house after house, he dragged off both men and women and delivered them to prison.

Now those who had been scattered went about proclaiming the good news of the word. And Philip came down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them. And the crowds with one mind were paying attention to what was being said by Philip, as they heard him and saw the signs that he was performing. For many of those who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them, crying out with a loud voice, and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.

KJV 1900King James Version

And Saul was consenting unto his death.

And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city.

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