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Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,
Acts 8:14 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
  • KJV Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
  • BSB When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
  • NKJV Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
  • NLT When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there.

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

Hearing that Samaria had received God's word, the apostles sent Peter and John. The Jerusalem church confirmed and embraced this new advance of the gospel.

Overview

The apostles' sending of Peter and John affirmed the legitimacy of the Samaritan mission and maintained unity with the mother church. This apostolic oversight was significant given the old Jewish-Samaritan division. It shows God knitting together formerly hostile peoples into one church under Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • 1 Th 3:2and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the Good News of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith;
  • 1 Th 2:13For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when you received from us the word of the message of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you who believe.
  • Gal 2:9and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision.
  • Acts 8:1Saul was consenting to his death. A great persecution arose against the assembly which was in Jerusalem in that day. They were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.
  • Acts 2:41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.
  • Luke 22:8He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.”
  • Acts 15:4When they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the assembly and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all things that God had done with them.
  • Acts 11:19–22They therefore who were scattered abroad by the oppression that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews only.
  • Acts 17:11Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
  • Matt 13:23What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.”
  • Acts 11:1Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.
  • Acts 3:1–3Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
  • John 12:48He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke, the same will judge him in the last day.
  • 2 Th 2:10and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

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 8:14YouTube · 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 8:14 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.