Limitless Word
“After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.
Acts 13:20 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB After these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
  • KJV And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.
  • BSB All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.
  • NASB After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
  • NLT All this took about 450 years. “After that, God gave them judges to rule until the time of Samuel the prophet.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

After this God gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. He continued to guide and provide for his people.

Overview

Paul traces Israel's story through the era of the judges down to Samuel, who anointed the first kings. The period showed both Israel's repeated failure and God's repeated raising up of deliverers. This survey builds toward David, through whose line the promised Messiah would come.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Judg 2:16Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
  • 1 Sam 3:20All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Yahweh.
  • 2 Kgs 23:22Surely there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
  • 2 Sam 7:11and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover Yahweh tells you that Yahweh will make you a house.
  • 1 Sam 12:11Yahweh sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety.
  • Judg 3:10Yahweh’s Spirit came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Yahweh delivered Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. His hand prevailed against Cushan Rishathaim.
  • Ruth 1:1In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
  • 1 Chr 17:6In all places in which I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’”’
  • Acts 3:24Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Acts 13:20YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 13:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.