Acts 8:23

Acts 8:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
• New International Version (NIV)For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity."
• New King James Version (NKJV)For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

Context of Acts 8:23

21You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God. 22Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be pardoned. For I see in you the poison of bitterness and the bondage of unrighteousness!” 24Simon replied, “Pray for me, so that none of what you have said may come upon me.” 25So when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, proclaiming the Good News to many Samaritan villages.

Acts 8:23 word by word

εἰς γὰρ χολὴν πικρίας καὶ σύνδεσμον ἀδικίας ὁρῶ σε ὄντα.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• I perceiveὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
• that thouσύsu · youG4771
• artεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• inεἰςeis · towardG1519
• the gallχολήcholē · gallG5521
• of bitternessπικρίαpikria · bitternessG4088
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• the bondσύνδεσμοςsundesmos · bond(age)G4886
• of iniquityἀδικίαadikia · unrighteousnessG93

Cross-references for Acts 8:23

• Deuteronomy 29:18“Now when someone hears the words of this oath and in his heart considers himself blessed, thinking, ‘Shalom will be mine, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart’—thus sweeping away the moist with the dry—
• Deuteronomy 32:32For their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the terraces of Gomorrah. Its grapes are grapes of poison— bitter clusters on it.
• Job 20:14his food turns sour in his stomach; it becomes the venom of serpents within him.
• Jeremiah 4:18Your conduct and your deeds have brought these things on you. This is your calamity! How bitter it is! How it smites your heart!
• Jeremiah 9:15I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known. I will pursue them with the sword, until I have finished with them.”
• Lamentations 3:5He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.
• Hebrews 12:15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God; and see to it that no bitter root springs up and causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.
• Psalms 116:16O Adonai! Surely I am Your servant. I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant. You have freed me from my bonds.
• Proverbs 5:22The iniquities of a wicked man will ensnare him. The cords of his sin will hold him down.
• Isaiah 28:22So now, stop your scoffing, lest your shackles be strengthened! For I have heard from Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot of destruction determined upon the whole land.
• John 8:34Yeshua answered them, “Amen, amen I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
• Romans 6:17But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching under which you were placed;
• 2 Peter 2:4For God did not spare angels when they sinned, but threw them into Sheol. He put them in chains of gloomy darkness, to be held until the judgment.

Commentaries on Acts 8:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23The gall of bitterness - A Hebraism for excessive bitterness: gall, wormwood, and such like, were used to express the dreadful effects of sin in the soul; the bitter repentance, bitter regret, bitter sufferings, bitter death, etc., etc., which it produces. In Deuteronomy 29:18, idolatry and its consequences are expressed, by having among them a root that beareth Gall and Wormwood. And in Hebrews 12:15, some grievous sin is intended, when the apostle warns…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23For I perceive - That is, by the act which he had done. His offer had shown a state of mind that was wholly inconsistent with true religion. One single sin “may” as certainly show that there is no true piety as many acts of iniquity. It may be so decided, so malignant, so utterly inconsistent with just views as at once to determine what the character is. The sin of Simon was of this character. Peter here does not appear to have claimed the power of…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-25Verses 14-25 The Holy Ghost was as yet fallen upon none of these coverts, in the extraordinary powers conveyed by the descent of the Spirit upon the day of Pentecost. We may take encouragement from this example, in praying to God to give the renewing graces of the Holy Ghost to all for whose spiritual welfare we are concerned; for that includes all blessings. No man can give the Holy Spirit by the laying on of his hands; but we should use our best…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-24Simon the sorcerer performed magic and amazed the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great. Simon tried to buy spiritual power. The later corrupt practice of buying and selling positions of leadership in the church was called simony. This term refers to the corrupt practice of buying and selling church leadership positions (see 1 Timothy 6:9–10). Peter strongly criticized Simon's evil intentions and actions.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-2418-24. offered them money--Hence the term simony, to denote trafficking in sacred things, but chiefly the purchase of ecclesiastical offices.Read the comment

Topics related to Acts 8:23

• Covetousness
• Depravity of Man
• Gall
• Hypocrisy
• Integrity
• Minister, Christian
• Peter
• Reproof
• Samaria
• Simon
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Believe
• Bitter
• Bitterness
• Consent
• Devout
• Havock
• Join
• Magic
• Peter
• Pray

Commentaries on Acts 8

• 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