Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.
Parallel translations
- WEB Great fear came on the whole assembly, and on all who heard these things.
- KJV And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
- BSB And great fear came over the whole church and all who heard about these events.
- NKJV So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.
- NASB And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard about these things.
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
Great fear spreads through the whole church and all who hear. A holy reverence for God marks the community.
Overview
This is the first time Luke calls the believers 'the assembly' (the church) in Acts, framing this fear as formative for its life. The fear is not terror that drives people away but reverent awe that takes God seriously. Such fear is the proper response to a holy God who is genuinely present among His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Acts 5:5Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and died. Great fear came on all who heard these things.
- 1 Cor 10:11–12Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
- Heb 4:1Let us fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest.
- Acts 19:17This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived at Ephesus. Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
- Phil 2:12So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
- Ps 89:7a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones, to be feared above all those who are around him?
- Heb 12:15looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it;
- Heb 12:28Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let us have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,
- Jer 32:40and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.
- Heb 11:7By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
- Rev 15:4Who wouldn’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your righteous acts have been revealed.”
- 1 Pet 1:17If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear:
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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 5:11 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
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