Acts 8 verse 16

Acts 8 verse 16

(14) Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

(15) Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 

(16) (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 

(17) Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.    (KJV)

------------------------------------

Retranslation (14 only):  When the ambassadors from the City of Peace, the Harmonious Realm, heard that the Samaritans had intellectually accepted the terms of God’s covenant, they recompensed them with more help in the form of Peter and John. These two, together, represent the descent of the Holy Ghost.  Peter represents the experience of “church”: direct communion with God; and John represents the experience of being in The Divine Presence: It’s tender and intelligent love, revealing to each of Its precious things God’s wonder and beauty, removing any doubt as to what God is, and fear as to what God does.

Retranslation (15 only):  Peter and John proseuchomai or descend. Thus they are “sent from above.”  Their mission to help the Samaritans is God-ordained. Peter and John pray. They “worship” God. They are menial or domestic servants in the house of God. They wait patiently for God’s direction. In this House, they KNOW that each Samaritan is God’s beloved daughter. None is more precious in Her sight. They KNOW that All that God has belongs to each of these precious Samaritans. John and Peter’s obedience allows them to be used by God in the thrilling and divine activity of helping these seekers from Samaria pierce completely through the veil of sin, to cast off their false identity, and accept God as the only “I or us”; thus, to be baptized in the Spirit, the rational Mind, and become filled with divine joy and meaning.

-----------------------------------

(16)   For he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.    (IB)

Retranslation (16 only): For the Father had not seized nor taken possession of any of them yet; they had merely been baptized intellectually.

------------------------------

NOTE on “Two degrees of baptism”:  Kathleen brought to my attention the perfect video for these verses. 

http://christianscience.com/prayer-and-health/more-inspiration/lectures-online-and-near-you/two-degrees-of-baptism-6-min-eng

It’s a snippet of a lecture (6 minutes) by Elise Moore who is explaining the the two degrees of baptism: of water (bapto), and of the Holy Spirit (baptizo). The Samaritans have immersed themselves intellectually enough to accept the divine reasoning, the word of God, and, in recompense for their effort, they will receive the second baptism of the Holy Ghost. 

I am reproducing some of the lecture below:

“Would you like to be made “new?”  

John 3:5-----Jesus is talking to Nicodemus:  “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” 

Baptism, two degrees of baptism: water and Spirit

Matt. 3:11------John, the baptist, is talking: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”

water = repentance: rethink, to change your mind, to turn; changing your mind from material to spiritual; turning towards God, symbolized by water, purification.

Spirit = Holy Ghost/fire: baptism of Jesus Christ; the great coming of sp. understanding to  you. The holy Spirit within. When it comes to you. Internal presence of the Holy Spirit. Washing away sin vs. internal fire.

bapto water

baptizo Spirit

Nicander 200 B.C. ‘A Recipe for Making Pickles.’ Nicander says that in order to make a pickle, the vegetable should first be bapto, dipped in boiling water, and then baptizo, placed in the vinegar solution. Both verbs concern the immersing of vegetables in a solution, but the first is temporary; the second, the act of baptizing the vegetable in vinegar, produces a permanent change. Christ is saying that mere intellectual ascent [?] is not enough, there must be a union with him, a real change like the vegetable to the pickle; and I [Elise] say “once a pickle, never a cucumber again!”

------------------------------------

For 1063 gar, a primary particle; properly assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensification; often with other particles.):----and, as, because (that), but, even, for, indeed, no doubt, seeing, then, therefore, verily, what, why, yet.

He was 2258 

on 1909

no one 3762

of them 846

having fallen 1968 epipipto, from 1909 and 4098; to embrace (with affection) or seize (with more or less violence, literal or figurative):----fall into (on, upon), lie on, press upon.

4098 pipto, a reduplicated and contracted form of peto (which occurs only as an alternate in certain tenses); probably akin to 4072 through the idea of alighting; to fall (literally or figuratively):---fail, fall (down), light on.

embrace (Origins Dict.): (literally) the two arms, L. brachia, the arms (outstretched), plural of brachium, arm, from Greek brakhion, arm, usually the upper arm.

embrace (1828 Dict. def.):

1. To take, clasp or inclose in the arms; to press to the bosom, in token of affection. “Paul called to him the disciples and embraced them.” Acts xx.
2. To seize eagerly; to lay hold on; to receive or take with willingness that which is offered; as, to embrace the christian religion; to embrace the opportunity of doing a favor.
3. To comprehend; to include or take in; as, natural philosophy embraces many sciences.
4. To comprise; to inclose; to encompass; to contain; to encircle. “Low at his feet a spacious plain is placed, Between the mountain and the stream embraced.”  Denham.
5. To receive; to admit. “What is there that he may not embrace for truth?”  Locke.
6. To find; to take; to accept. “Fleance----must embrace the fate of that dark hour.” Shak.
7. To have carnal intercourse with.
8. To put on.
9. To attempt to influence a jury corruptly.  Blackstone.

seize (Origins Dict.): Middle Latin sacrire, to take (legal) possession.

seize (1828 Dict. def.):

1. To fall or rush upon suddenly and lay hold on; or to grip or grasp suddenly. The tiger rushes from the thicket and seizes his prey. The hawk seizes the chicken with his claws. The officer seizes the thief.
2. To take possession by force, with or without right. “At last they seize the scepter, and regard not David’s son.” Milton.
3. To invade suddenly; to take hold of; to come upon suddenly. “And hope and doubt alternate seize her soul.”  Pope. 
4. To take possession by virtue of a warrant or legal authority. The sherif seized the debtor’s goods; the whole estate was seized and confiscated. We say, to arrest a person, to seize goods.
5. To fasten; to fix. In seaman’s language, to fasten two ropes or different parts of one rope together with a cord.
6. To be seized of, to have possession; as a griffin seized of his prey.
7. To seize on or upon, is to fall on and grasp; to take hold on; to take possession. Matt. xxi.

hold v.t.(ibid.)

1. To stop; to confine; to restrain from escape; to keep fast; to retain. It rarely or never signifies the first act of seizing or falling on, but the act of retaining a thing when seized or confined. To grasp, is to seize, or to keep fast in the hand; hold coincides with grasp in the latter sense, but not in the former. We hold a horse by means of the bridle. An anchor holds a ship in her station.

To take possession (ibid.): to enter on, or to bring within one’s power or occupancy.

possess (ibid.): [L. possessus, po, by and sedo, to sit in or on.]

1. To have the just and legal title; ownership or property of a thing; to own; to hold the title of, as the rightful proprietor, or to hold both the title and the thing.
2. To hold; to occupy without title or ownership. “Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own.” Acts iv.
3. To have; to occupy. The love of the world usually possesses the heart. 
4. To have power over; as an invisible agent or spirit. Luke viii.

only 3440 monon, neuter of 3441 as adverb; merely:----alone, but, only. 

baptized 907 baptizo, from a derivative of 911; to make whelmed (i.e. fully wet); used only (in the N.T.) of ceremonial ablution, especially (technically) of the ordinance of Christian baptism:-----baptist, baptize, wash.

911 bapto, a primary verb; to whelm, i.e. cover wholly with a fluid; in the N.T. only in a qualified or specific sense, i.e. (literally) to moisten (a part of one’s person), or (by implication) to stain (as with dye):-----dip.

whelm (Origins Dict.): Derives from Middle English hwelmen, to turn upside down: apparently a folk entomology blend of Old English helmain, to cover (cf helm, helmet), and Old English -hwelfan in dhwelfan, to cover over, hence to overcome completely, -hwelfan being related to Old High German -welfan, welben (G wolben), to (over) arch, and Old Norse hvelfa, to overturn, . . .

whelm (1828 Dict. def.):

1. To cover with water or other fluid; to cover by immersion in something that envelops on all sides; as, to whelm a person or a company in the seas; to whelm a caravan in the sand or dust.
2. To cover completely; to immerse deeply; to overburden; as, to whelm one in sorrows.
3. To throw over so as to cover.

whelmed (ibid.) Covered; as by being plunged or immersed.

stain (Origins Dict.): French deteindre, to remove colour (of). L. tingere (pp tinctus) to steep in a liquid, e.g. coloured water, hence to dye, akin to the TENG- of Greek tengo, I moisten. L. tingere yields to E tinge. The L. past participle tinctus, coloured, yields both the adj. and the v. tinct. L tinctus become Portugese tinto, with feminine tinta, used as a noun for a red wine.

stain (1828 Dict. def.): To dye; tinge with a different color; as, to stain cloth.

dye (ibid.) [L. tingo, Fr teindre, whence tint, taint; Arabic taicha, to dye and to die. The primary sense is to throw down, to dip, to plunge.]

To stain; to color; to give a new and permanent color to; applied particularly to cloth of the materials of cloth, as wool, cotton, silk and linen; as to hats, leather, etc. It usually expresses more or a deeper color than tinge.

tinge (ibid.) [L. tingo; Eng. to dye; German tunken, to dip; Fr. teindre, to stain. See Dye. The primary sense of the verb is to plunge, or to throw down, to thrust, and intransitively to fall; hence we see the words die, that is, to fall or perish, and to dye, or color, may be from one root.]

1. The imbue or impregnate with something foreign; to communicate the qualities of one substance, in some degree, to another, either by mixture, or by adding them to the surface; as, to tinge a blue color with red; an infusion tinged with a yellow color by saffron; to tinge a decoction with a bitter taste. “The virtues of sir Roger, as well as his imperfections, are tinged with extravagance.”  Addison.

imbue (ibid.):n[lL. inbuo; in and the root of Eng. buck, to buck cloth, that is, to dip, drench or steep in water.]

1. To tinge deeply; to dye; as, to imbue cloth.
2. To tincture deeply; to cause to imbibe; as, to imbue the minds of youth with good principles.

infuse (ibid.)[L. infundo; in and fundo, to pour in.]

1. To pour in, as a liquid.
2. To instill, as principles or qualities. “Why should he desire to have qualities infused into his son, which himself never possessed?”  Swift.
3. To pour in or instill, as into the mind. Infuse into young minds a noble ardor.
4. To introduce; as, to infuse Gallicisms into a composition.
5. To inspire with; as, to infuse the breast with magnanimity.
6. To steep in liquor without boiling, for the purpose of extracting medicinal qualities. One scruple of dried leaves is infused in ten ounces of warm water.

in 1519 eis, a primary preposition; to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etc.); also in adverbial phrases:-----abundant, abundantly, against, among, as, at, back, backward, before, by, concerning, continual, far more exceeding, for [intent, purpose], fore, forth, in (among, at, unto), inso much that, into, to the intent that, of one mind, never, of, on, upon, perish, set at one again, (so) that, therefore, thereunto, throughout, till, to (be, the end). toward, heretoward, until to . . . ward, fore, wherefore, with. Often used in compounds with the same general import, but only with verbs (etc.) expressing motion (lit. or fig.).

name 3686 onoma, from a presumed derivative of the base of 1097 (compare 3685); a “name” (literal or figurative)[authority, character]:-----called, name, named, surnamed.

Lord 2962 kyrios, from kyros (supremacy); supreme in authority, i.e. (as noun) controller; by implication Mister (as a respectful title):-----God, Lord, master, Sir.

Jesus 2424 Iesous, of Hebrew origin [H3091]; Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua); the name of our Lord and two (or three) other Israelites:-----Jesus.

H3091 yehosua, from 3068 and 3467; Jehovah-saved; Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua), the Jewish leader:----Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Joshua. Compare H1954, H3442.

H3467 yasa, a primitive root; properly to be open, wide or free, i.e. (by implication) to be safe; causatively to free or succor:----saviour, save, salvation, bring salvation, be safe, get victory, deliver, deliverer, help, preserve, rescue, defend, avenging.

Jehovah H3068 YHWH, from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God:----Jehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050, H3069.

H1954 hosea, from 3467; deliverer; Hoshea, the name of five Israelites:---Hosea Hoshea, Oshea.

H3442 yesua, for 3091; he will save; Jeshua, the name of ten Israelits, also of a place in Palestine:---Jeshua.

H1961 haya, a primitive root [compare H1933]; to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):---quit self, quit oneself, become, to pass, come to pass, come, follow, be, be accomplished, be committed, be like, do, happen, have, pertain, require, use, fall, faint, beacon.

1933 hawa, a primitive root [compare H183]. H1961] supposed to mean properly to breathe, to be (in the sense of existence):---be, have.

3050 yah, contracted for 3068, and meaning the same; Jah, the sacred name:-----Jah, the Lord, most vehement. Compare names in “-iah,” “-jah.”

3069 YHWH, a variation of 3068 [used after H136, and pronounced by the Jews as H430, in order to prevent the repetition of the same sound, since they elsewhere pronounce H3068 as H136]:---God.

H136 adonay, an emphatic form of H113; the Lord (used as a proper name of God only):-----Lord, my Lord.

H113 adon, form an unused root (meaning to rule); soverign, i.e. controller (human or divine):----lord, master, owner. Compare also names beginning with “Adoni-.”

H430 elohim, plural of 433; gods in the ordinary sense, but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:-----God, gods, goddess, godly, great, very great, exceeding, mighty, judges, angels.

H433 eloah, probably prolonged (emphatically) from H410; a deity or the Deity:---God, god. See H430.

H410 el, shortened from H352; strength, as adjective mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity):---God, god, goodly, great, might, mighty one, power, strong, idol. Compare names in “-el.”

H352 ayil, from the same as H193; properly strength; hence anything strong; specifically a chief (politically); also a ram (from his strength); a pilaster (as a strong support); an oak or other strong tree:----mighty, mighty man, lintel, oak, post, ram, tree.

H193 ul, from an unused root meaning to twist, i.e. (by implication) be strong; the body (as being rolled together); also powerful:---mighty, strength.