There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together.
Parallel translations
- WEB There were many lights in the upper room where we were gathered together.
- KJV And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.
- BSB Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered.
- NASB There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were gathered together.
- NLT The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps.
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
Luke notes the many lamps in the upper room where they met. The detail sets the scene and underscores the eyewitness account.
Overview
The numerous lamps explain both the warm, crowded atmosphere and, with their consumed oxygen and heat, the drowsiness that overtook Eutychus. Upper rooms were common places for such gatherings, recalling the room of the Last Supper and Pentecost. Luke's vivid, incidental details lend credibility to the narrative and prepare for the miracle about to occur.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Acts 1:13When they had come in, they went up into the upper room, where they were staying; that is Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.
- Luke 22:12He will show you a large, furnished upper room. Make preparations there.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 20:8 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.