Acts 11:21

Acts 11:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.
• New International Version (NIV)The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

Context of Acts 11:21

19Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. 20However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. 22When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord.

Acts 11:21 word by word

καὶ ἦν χεὶρ κυρίου μετ᾽ αὐτῶν, πολύς τε ἀριθμὸς ὁ πιστεύσας ἐπέστρεψεν ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andκαίkai · andG2532
• the handχείρcheir · handG5495
• of the Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962
• wasεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• withμετάmeta · with/afterG3326
• themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• andτεte · and/bothG5037
• a greatπολύςpolus polos · muchG4183
• numberἀριθμόςarithmos · numberG706
• believedπιστεύωpisteuō · to trust (in)G4100
• and turnedἐπιστρέφωepistrephō · to turnG1994
• untoἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• the Lordὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588

Cross-references for Acts 11:21

• 2 Chronicles 30:12At the same time, God’s hand was on the people in the land of Judah, giving them all one heart to obey the orders of the king and his officials, who were following the word of the Lord.
• Ezra 7:9He had arranged to leave Babylon on April 8, the first day of the new year, and he arrived at Jerusalem on August 4, for the gracious hand of his God was on him.
• Ezra 8:18Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they sent us a man named Sherebiah, along with eighteen of his sons and brothers. He was a very astute man and a descendant of Mahli, who was a descendant of Levi son of Israel.
• Nehemiah 2:8And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king’s forest, instructing him to give me timber. I will need it to make beams for the gates of the Temple fortress, for the city walls, and for a house for myself.” And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.
• Isaiah 53:1Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
• Isaiah 59:1Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.
• Luke 1:66Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.
• Acts 11:24Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord.
• Acts 2:47all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
• Acts 4:4But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000.
• Acts 5:14Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women.
• Acts 6:7So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.
• 1 Corinthians 3:6I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.
• 1 Thessalonians 1:5For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you.
• Acts 9:35Then the whole population of Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas walking around, and they turned to the Lord.
• Acts 15:19“And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

Commentaries on Acts 11:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21The hand of the Lord was with them - By the hand, arm, and, finger of God, in the Scripture, different displays or exertions of his power are intended. Here it means that the energy of God accompanied them, and applied their preaching to the souls of all attentive hearers. Without this accompanying influence, even an apostle could do no good; and can inferior men hope to be able to convince and convert sinners without this? Ministers of the word of God…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21And the hand of the Lord - See the notes on Luke 1:66. Compare Psalm 80:17. The meaning is, that God showed them favor, and evinced his power in the conversion of their hearers.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-24Verses 19-24 The first preachers of the gospel at Antioch, were dispersed from Jerusalem by persecution; thus what was meant to hurt the church, was made to work for its good. The wrath of man is made to praise God. What should the ministers of Christ preach, but Christ? Christ, and him crucified? Christ, and him glorified? And their preaching was accompanied with the Divine power. The hand of the Lord was with them, to bring that home to the hearts and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21-24As with the household of Cornelius, many Gentiles believed in Jesus. The growth of Christian faith among Gentiles had to remain in harmony with the church at Jerusalem. So, the Jerusalem Christians sent Barnabas to Antioch to oversee the developments there. Barnabas could see that God’s blessing was on what was happening, so he supported it with joy.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. a great number believed--Thus the accession of Cornelius and his party was not the first admission of uncircumcised Gentiles into the Church. (See on Ac 10:1.) Nay, we read of no influence which the accession of Cornelius and his house had on the further progress of the Gospel among the Gentiles; whereas there here open upon us operations upon the Gentiles from quite a different quarter, and attended with ever growing success. The only great object…Read the comment

Topics related to Acts 11:21

• Antioch
• Church
• Faith
• Hand
• Jerusalem
• Persecution
• Regeneration
• Revivals

In the dictionaries

• Antioch
• Arise
• Contend
• Rehearse
• Acts of the Apostles
• Arm
• Conversion
• Galatians, Epistle to the
• Luke, the Evangelist
• Ministry

Commentaries on Acts 11

• 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
• 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