Acts 8 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

The story here shifts from Stephen to Saul.Some translations set each line of poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to make it easier to read. The ULT does this with the poetry that is quoted from the Old Testament in [8:32–33](../08/32.md).The first sentence of [verse 1](../08/01.md) ends the description of the events in Chapter 7. Luke begins a new part of his history with the words “And on that day.”

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Receiving the Holy Spirit

In this chapter Luke speaks for the first time of people receiving the Holy Spirit ([Acts 8:15–19](../08/15.md)). The Holy Spirit had already enabled the believers to speak in tongues, to heal the sick, and to live as a community, and he had filled Stephen. But when the Jews started putting believers in prison, those believers who could leave Jerusalem did leave, and as they went, they told people about Jesus. When the people who heard about Jesus received the Holy Spirit, the church leaders knew that those people had truly become believers.

Proclaimed

This chapter, more than any other in the book of Acts, speaks of the believers proclaiming the word, proclaiming the good news, and proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ. The word “proclaim” translates a Greek word that means to tell good news about something.