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The NET Bible®

Acts 8:10

All the people, from the least to the greatest, paid close attention to him, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called ‘Great.'"

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Faith;   Minister, Christian;   Miracles;   Philip;   Preaching;   Samaria;   Simon;   Scofield Reference Index - Churches;   Gospel;   Thompson Chain Reference - Miracles;   Missions, World-Wide;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Miracles through Evil Agents;   Samaria, Modern;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Peter;   Samaria;   Simon;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Philip;   Simon;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Magic;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Samaria;   Simon;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Divination;   Helps;   Magi;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Acts;   Great;   Hebrews;   Philip;   Simon;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Gnosticism;   Jude, Epistle of;   Mark, Gospel According to;   Peter;   Power;   Simon Magus;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Hellenism;   Miracles;   Power Powers;   Sacraments;   Simon Magus;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Divination;   Philip ;   Samaria ;   Samaritans;   Simon ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Philip;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Apostle;   Phil'ip the Evangelist;   Si'mon;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Heresy;   Simon Maccabaeus;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom or Church of Christ, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Chambers of Imagery;   Simon Magus;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They all paid attention to him, from the least of them to the greatest, and they said, “This man is called the Great Power of God.”
King James Version (1611)
To whom they all gaue heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
King James Version
To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
English Standard Version
They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called Great."
New American Standard Bible
and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, "This man is the Power of God that is called Great."
New Century Version
All the people—the least important and the most important—paid attention to Simon, saying, "This man has the power of God, called ‘the Great Power'!"
Amplified Bible
They all paid [a great deal of] attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is what is called the Great Power of God!"
New American Standard Bible (1995)
and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, "This man is what is called the Great Power of God."
Legacy Standard Bible
and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, "This man is what is called the Great Power of God."
Berean Standard Bible
and all the people, from the least to the greatest, heeded his words and said, "This man is the divine power called the Great Power."
Contemporary English Version
Everyone, rich and poor, crowded around him. They said, "This man is the power of God called ‘The Great Power.'"
Complete Jewish Bible
Everyone gave heed to him, from the lowest to the highest, saying, "This man is the power of God called ‘The Great Power'."
Darby Translation
To whom they had all given heed, from small to great, saying, This is the power of God which is called great.
Easy-to-Read Version
All the people—the least important and the most important—believed what he said. They said, "This man has the power of God that is called ‘the Great Power.'"
Geneva Bible (1587)
To whome they gaue heede from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that great power of God.
George Lamsa Translation
And both the noblest and the least followed him, saying, He is the greatest power of God.
Good News Translation
and everyone in the city, from all classes of society, paid close attention to him. "He is that power of God known as ‘The Great Power,'" they said.
Lexham English Bible
They were all paying attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called ‘Great.'"
Literal Translation
All were paying attention to him , from small to great, saying, This one is the power of God, which is great.
American Standard Version
to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is called Great.
Bible in Basic English
To whom they all gave attention, from the smallest to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is named Great.
Hebrew Names Version
to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is that great power of God."
International Standard Version
Everyone from the least to the greatest paid close attention to him, saying, "This man is the power of God, which is called great!"
Etheridge Translation
And all inclined to him, great and small, and said, This is the great Power of Aloha.
Murdock Translation
And they all inclined towards him, great and small; and they said, This is the mighty power of God.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Whom they regarded from the least to the greatest, saying: This man is the great power of God.
English Revised Version
to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is called Great.
World English Bible
to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is that great power of God."
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
To whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
Weymouth's New Testament
To him people of all classes paid attention, declaring, "This man is the Power of God, known as the great Power."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whom alle herkeneden, fro the leest to the moost, and seiden, This is the vertu of God, which is clepid greet.
Update Bible Version
to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is that power of God which is called Great.
Webster's Bible Translation
To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
New King James Version
to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God."
New Living Translation
Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as "the Great One—the Power of God."
New Life Bible
All the people watched and listened to him. They said, "This man must be that great power of God."
New Revised Standard
All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called Great."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Unto whom all were giving heed, from small even to great, saying - This, is the Power of God, which is called Great.
Douay-Rheims Bible
To whom they all gave ear, from the least to the greatest, saying: This man is the power of God, which is called great.
Revised Standard Version
They all gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is that power of God which is called Great."
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Whom they regarded from ye lest to the greatest sayinge: this felow is the great power of God.
Young's Literal Translation
to whom they were all giving heed, from small unto great, saying, `This one is the great power of God;'
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And they all regarded him from the leest vnto ye greatest, & sayde: This is the power of God which is greate.
Mace New Testament (1729)
that they all followed him, both old and young. this man, said they, is the plenipotentiary of God.
Simplified Cowboy Version
People of all walks of life agreed and said, "This man's name should be God's Great Power."

Contextual Overview

4 Now those who had been forced to scatter went around proclaiming the good news of the word. 5 Philip went down to the main city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them. 6 The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what Philip said, as they heard and saw the miraculous signs he was performing. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, were coming out of many who were possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city. 9 Now in that city was a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic and amazing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. 10 All the people, from the least to the greatest, paid close attention to him, saying, "This man is the power of God that is called ‘Great.'" 11 And they paid close attention to him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they began to be baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

they: 2 Corinthians 11:19, Ephesians 4:14, 2 Peter 2:2, Revelation 13:3

from: Jeremiah 6:13, Jeremiah 8:10, Jeremiah 31:34, Jonah 3:5

the great power: 1 Corinthians 1:24

Reciprocal: Numbers 22:6 - I wot Judges 18:5 - Ask counsel Jeremiah 42:1 - from Matthew 24:5 - in Luke 21:8 - for Acts 14:11 - The gods 2 Corinthians 4:5 - we Hebrews 8:11 - from

Cross-References

Genesis 7:4
For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made."
Genesis 7:10
And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth.
Genesis 8:12
He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again, but it did not return to him this time.
Psalms 40:1

For the music director; By David, a psalm.

I relied completely on the Lord , and he turned toward me and heard my cry for help.
Isaiah 8:17
I will wait patiently for the Lord , who has rejected the family of Jacob; I will wait for him.
Isaiah 26:8
Yes, as your judgments unfold, O Lord , we wait for you. We desire your fame and reputation to grow.
Romans 8:25
But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

To whom they all gave heed,.... Were not only attentive to the strange things he did, and to the wonderful things he gave out concerning himself; but they believed what he said and did as real things, and were obedient to him: and that

from the least to the greatest; which does not so much respect age, though the Ethiopic version renders it, "from the younger of them to the eldest of them", as state and condition; persons of every rank and quality, high and low, rich and poor, magistrates and subjects, from the meanest to the greatest of them; and so the Syriac version renders it, "both great", or "noble, and mean"; he drew the attention, and commanded the regard, both of princes and peasants, of the learned and unlearned, of the great men, and of the common people, who one and all wondered at him, and applauded him:

saying, this man is the great power of God; or as the Alexandrian copy and some others, and the Vulgate Latin version read, "this is the power of God which is called great"; they took him for the supreme Deity, or as Justin Martyr h expresses it, they accounted him the first, or chief God, or they looked upon him to be the Messiah, "the great power of God": as the Syriac version renders it; and who should be great, and called the Son of the Highest, Luke 1:32.

h Ut supra. (Apolg. 2. p. 69.)

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The great power of God - Probably this means only that they believed that he was “invested with” the power of God, not that they supposed he was really the Great God.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 8:10. This man is the great power of God. — That is, he is invested with it, and can command and use it. They certainly did not believe him to be God; but they thought him to be endued with a great supernatural power.

There is a remarkable reading here in several MSS. which should not pass unnoticed. In ABCDE, several others, together with the AEthiopic, Armenian, later Syriac, Vulgate, Itala, Origen, and Irenaeus, the word καλουμενη is added before μεγαλη, and the passage reads thus, This person is that power of God which is CALLED the GREAT. This appears to be the true reading; but what the Samaritans meant by that power of God which they termed the Great, we know not. Simon endeavoured to persuade the people that he was a very great personage, and he succeeded.


 
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