Acts 2:20

Acts 2:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
• New International Version (NIV)The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

Context of Acts 2:20

18I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy. 19I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. 21Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 22“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know.

Acts 2:20 word by word

ὁ ἥλιος μεταστραφήσεται εἰς σκότος καὶ ἡ σελήνη εἰς αἷμα, πρὶν ἢ ἐλθεῖν τὴν ἡμέραν κυρίου τὴν μεγάλην καὶ ἐπιφανῆ.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• ·ἤē · orG2228
• The sunἥλιοςhēlios · sunG2246
• shall be turnedμεταστρέφωmetastrephō · to changeG3344
• intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• darknessσκότοςskotos · darknessG4655
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• the moonσελήνηselēnē · moonG4582
• bloodαἷμαaima · bloodG129
• before thatπρίνprin · beforeG4250
• greatμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• notableἐπιφανήςepiphanēs · gloriousG2016
• dayἡμέραhēmera · dayG2250
• of the Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962
• comeἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064

Cross-references for Acts 2:20

• Isaiah 13:9Look, the day of the Lord is coming — cruel, with fury and burning anger — to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners.
• Isaiah 24:23The moon will be put to shame and the sun disgraced, because the Lord of Armies will reign as king on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and he will display his glory in the presence of his elders.
• Jeremiah 4:23I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty. I looked to the heavens, and their light was gone.
• Amos 8:9And in that day — this is the declaration of the Lord God — I will make the sun go down at noon; I will darken the land in the daytime.
• Matthew 24:29“Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
• Matthew 27:45From noon until three in the afternoon, darkness came over the whole land.
• Mark 13:24“But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light;
• Luke 21:25“Then there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and there will be anguish on the earth among nations bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
• 2 Peter 3:7By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
• Revelation 6:12Then I saw him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of hair; the entire moon became like blood;
• Revelation 16:8The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun. It was allowed to scorch people with fire,
• Isaiah 2:12For a day belonging to the Lord of Armies is coming against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up — it will be humbled —
• Isaiah 34:8For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a time of paying back Edom for its hostility against Zion.
• Joel 2:1Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the residents of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; in fact, it is near —
• Joel 3:14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
• Zephaniah 2:2before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning of the Lord’s anger overtakes you, before the day of the Lord’s anger overtakes you.

Commentaries on Acts 2:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood - These are figurative representations of eclipses, intended most probably to point out the fall of the civil and ecclesiastical state in Judea: see the notes on Matthew 24:29. That the Sun is darkened when a total eclipse takes place, and that the Moon appears of a bloody hue in such circumstances, every person knows.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20The sun shall be turned into darkness - See the notes on Matthew 24:29. The same images used here with reference to the sun and moon are used also there: They occur not infrequently, Mark 13:24; 2 Peter 3:7-10. The shining of the sun is an emblem of prosperity; the withdrawing, the eclipse, or the setting of the sun is an emblem of calamity, and is often thus need in the Scriptures, Isaiah 60:20; Jeremiah 15:9; Ezekiel 32:7; Amos 8:9; Revelation 6:12…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-21Verses 14-21 Peter's sermon shows that he was thoroughly recovered from his fall, and thoroughly restored to the Divine favour; for he who had denied Christ, now boldly confessed him. His account of the miraculous pouring forth of the Spirit, was designed to awaken the hearers to embrace the faith of Christ, and to join themselves to his church. It was the fulfilling the Scripture, and the fruit of Christ's resurrection and ascension, and proof of both…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-21This passage quotes Joel 2:28–32. The prophet Joel prophesied that in the last days, many people would have the gifts of prophecy, including visions and dreams. This would include both young and old, and both men and women (Joel 2:28–29). In Acts, on the day of Pentecost, Peter announced that Joel’s prophecy was coming true, indicating that "the last days" had begun.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-3614-21. Peter, standing up with the eleven--in advance, perhaps, of the rest.Read the comment

Topics related to Acts 2:20

• Astronomy
• Church
• Eclipse
• Heaven
• Judgment
• Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena
• Moon
• Orator
• Peter
• Preaching
• Prophecy
• Quotations and Allusions
• Readings, Select
• Revivals
• Sun
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Approve
• Confound
• Determinate
• Exhort
• Gladness
• Messiah
• Miracle
• Notable
• Pentecost
• Untoward

Commentaries on Acts 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings