the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
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King James Version
Acts 1:9
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And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
And when he had spoken these things, while they behelde, he was taken vp: for a cloude tooke him vp out of their sight.
After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And having said these things he was taken up, they beholding [him], and a cloud received him out of their sight.
After Jesus said this, he was lifted up into the sky. While they were watching, he went into a cloud, and they could not see him.
And after He said these things, He was caught up as they looked on, and a cloud took Him up out of their sight.
And when he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
After Jesus had said this and while they were watching, he was taken up into a cloud. They could not see him,
After saying this, he was taken up before their eyes; and a cloud hid him from their sight.
After saying this, he was taken up while they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.Luke 24:51; John 6:62; Acts 6:2;">[xr]
And as these he said, while they beheld him, he was taken up, and the cloud received him, and he was covered from their eyes.
And when he had said these things, while they beheld him, he was taken up, and a cloud received him, and he was hidden from their eyes.
And when hee had spoken these things, while they beheld, hee was taken vp, and a cloud receiued him out of their sight.
And when he had spoken these thynges, whyle they behelde, he was taken vp an hye, and a cloude receaued hym vp out of their syght.
And when he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And after he had said these things, while they were watching, he was taken up, and a cloud received him from their sight.
And saying these things, as they looked on, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him from their sight.
After he said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
After he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight.
Mark 16:19,20; Luke 24:50-53">[xr] Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.
When Jesus had said this and while they were still looking at Him, He was taken up. A cloud carried Him away so they could not see Him.
When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
And having said these things, as they were beholding, he was lifted up, and a cloud caught him away from their eyes.
And when he had said these things, while they looked on, he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And when he had spoken these things, he ascended while they were looking at him; a cloud * received him and he was hidden from their sight.
After saying this, he was taken up to heaven as they watched him, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And having spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him from their sight.
When He had said this, and while they were looking at Him, He was carried up, and a cloud closing beneath Him hid Him from their sight.
And whanne he had seid these thingis, in her siyt he was lift vp, and a cloude resseyuede him fro her iyen.
And these things having said -- they beholding -- he was taken up, and a cloud did receive him up from their sight;
When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
And when he had spoken these thinges whyll they behelde he was take vp and a cloude receaved him vp out of their sight.
And when he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And when he had said these things, while they were looking, he was taken up, and went from their view into a cloud.
And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were watching, and a cloud took Him up, out of their sight.
And whan he had spoken these thinges, whyle they behelde, he was taken vp, and a cloude receaued him from their sight.
After this discourse, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, "You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left."
After saying this, he was taken up to heaven, and a cloud moved in between the cowboys and Jesus.
And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
when: Acts 1:2, Psalms 68:18, Mark 16:19, Luke 24:50, Luke 24:51, John 6:62, Ephesians 4:8-12
a cloud: Exodus 19:9, Exodus 34:5, Isaiah 19:1, Daniel 7:13, Luke 21:27, Revelation 1:7, Revelation 11:12, Revelation 14:4
Reciprocal: 1 Kings 11:7 - the hill 2 Kings 2:1 - take up 2 Kings 2:10 - if thou see 2 Kings 2:12 - he saw him Matthew 9:15 - when Matthew 17:5 - behold Mark 2:20 - be taken Mark 9:7 - a cloud Mark 14:62 - the Son Luke 5:35 - when Luke 9:51 - that Luke 19:12 - a far John 12:8 - but John 16:28 - I leave John 17:11 - I am Acts 1:22 - unto Ephesians 4:10 - ascended 1 Thessalonians 4:17 - in the Hebrews 9:24 - but
Cross-References
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And when he had spoken these things,.... That the times and seasons were not to be known by them, but to be kept a secret by the Father: that they should tarry at Jerusalem, and in a few days be baptized with the Holy Ghost, and receive such power, abilities, strength, and courage thereby, as to bear a noble testimony for Christ, not only there, but in all the world; and when he had given them a fresh commission, and told them where they should go, what they should preach, and what miracles they should perform, and blessed them.
While they be held; all the Oriental versions, add, "him"; that is Christ, while they looked wistly at him, being attentive to what he said to them, so that they were not asleep; nor did Christ become invisible to them, or disappear before his ascension, but was visible to them in it; hence they were eyewitnesses of it:
he was taken up. Luke in his Gospel says, "carried up": very likely by angels, since these not only attended him in his ascension, but are the chariots of the Lord, in which he went up to heaven; see
Psalms 68:17 nor is this at all inconsistent with his proper deity, or that divine power he had of elevating himself, which he could do without the assistance of others; but this makes for the glory of his majesty.
And a cloud received him out of their sight; which was done partly for the same purpose, to add to the grandeur and magnificence of Christ's ascension; and partly to check the curiosity of the disciples, and prevent their gazing any more at him: and it may be that this, cloud was no other than a number of angels that appeared in this form; just as Elijah was taken up to heaven by angels, who appeared in the form of horses and chariots of fire; and the rather this may be the sense here, since it is certain, that there was a large number of angels which attended Christ at his ascension; and by whom he was then seen, Psalms 68:17 whereas, if these are not intended by the cloud, no more than two are here taken notice of, and these not as going along with Christ, but staying behind to converse with his disciples; to which may be added, that Christ was "received" by this cloud which descended to meet him, and joining him, escorted him to heaven: at least it may be thought, if it was a real cloud, that there was a multitude of angels in it, which accompanied him to the heavenly regions; for it can hardly be thought that a multitude of the heavenly host should descend at his birth, and sing glory to God upon his coming into this world; and not as large a number attend him with shouts and acclamations, at his going out of it, when he had done his work he came about, and was ascending to his God and Father, to take his place at his right hand on his throne; see Psalms 47:5. The Ethiopic version adds, "and he ascended to heaven".
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
While they beheld - While they saw him. It was of importance to state that circumstance, and to state it distinctly. It is not affirmed in the New Testament that they “saw him rise” from the dead, because the evidence of that fact could be better established by their seeing him after he was risen. But the truth of his “ascension to heaven” could not be confirmed in that manner. Hence, it was so arranged that he should ascend in open day, and in the presence of his apostles; and that not when they were asleep, or were inattentive to what was occurring, but when they were engaged in a conversation that’ would fix the attention, and even when they were looking upon him. Had Jesus vanished secretly, or had he disappeared in the night, the apostles would have been amazed and confounded; perhaps they would even have doubted whether they had not been deceived. But when they saw him leave them in this manner, they could not doubt that he had ascended to heaven, and that God approved his work, and would carry it forward. This event was exceedingly important:
(1) It was a confirmation of the truth of the Christian religion.
(2) It enabled the apostles to state distinctly where the Lord Jesus was, and at once directed their affections and their thoughts away from the earth, and opened their eyes on the glory of the scheme of religion they were to establish. If their Saviour was in heaven, it settled the question about the nature of his kingdom. It was clear that it was not designed to be a temporal kingdom. The reasons why it was proper that the Lord Jesus should ascend to heaven rather than remain on earth were:
(1) That he had “finished” the work which God gave him to do “on the earth” John 17:4; John 19:30, and it was proper that he should be received back to the glory which he had with the Father before the world was, John 17:4-5; Philippians 2:6, Philippians 2:9-10.
(2) It was proper that he should ascend in order that the Holy Spirit might come down and perform his part of the work of redemption. Jesus, by his personal ministry, as a man, could be but in one place; the Holy Spirit could be in all places, and could apply the work to all people. See note on John 16:7.
(3) A part of the work of Christ was yet to be performed in heaven. That was the work of intercession. The high priest of the Jews not only made an atonement, but also presented the blood of sacrifice before the mercy-seat, as the priest of the people, Leviticus 16:11-14. This was done to typify the entrance of the great high priest of our profession into the heavens, Hebrews 9:7-8, Hebrews 9:11-12. The work which he performs there is the work of intercession, Hebrews 7:25. This is properly the work which an advocate performs in a court for his client. As applicable to Christ, the meaning is, that he, as our great high priest, still manages our cause in heaven; secures our interests; obtains for us grace and mercy. His work, in this respect, consists in his appearing in the presence of God for us Hebrews 9:24; in his presenting the merits of his blood Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:14; and in securing the continuance of the mercy which has been bestowed on us, and which is still needful for our welfare. The Lord Jesus also ascended that he might assume and exercise the office of King in the immediate seat of power. All worlds were made subject to him for the welfare of the church; and it was needful that he should be solemnly invested with that power in the presence of God as the reward of his earthly toils. 1 Corinthians 15:25, “he must reign until he hath put all enemies under his feet.” Compare Ephesians 1:20-22; Philippians 2:6-11.
A cloud received him - He entered into the region of the clouds, and was hid from their view. But two others of our race have been taken bodily from earth to heaven. Enoch was transported (Genesis 5:24; compare Hebrews 11:5); and Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind, 2 Kings 2:11. It is remarkable that when the return of the Saviour is mentioned, it is uniformly said that he will return in the clouds, Acts 1:11; Matthew 24:30; Matthew 26:64; Mark 13:26; Revelation 1:7; Daniel 7:13. The clouds are an emblem of sublimity and grandeur, and perhaps this is all that is intended by these expressions, Deuteronomy 4:11; 2 Samuel 22:12; Psalms 97:2; Psalms 104:3.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Acts 1:9. He was taken up — He was speaking face to face with them, and while they beheld he was taken up; he began to ascend to heaven, and they continued to look after him till a cloud received him out of their sight-till he had ascended above the region of the clouds, by the density of which all farther distinct vision was prevented. These circumstances are very remarkable, and should be carefully noted. They render insupportable the theory that states, "that our Lord did not ascend to heaven; that his being taken up signifies his going into some mountain, the top of which was covered with clouds, or thick vapours; and that the two men in white garments were two priests, or Levites, who simply informed the disciples of his revisiting them again at some future time." One would suppose that an opinion of this kind could hardly ever obtain credit among people professing Christianity; and yet it is espoused by some men of considerable learning and ingenuity. But the mere letter of the text will be ever sufficient for its total confutation. He that believes the text cannot receive such a miserable comment. Foreign critics and divines take a most sinful latitude on subjects of this kind.
