Believers Had Everything in Common (Acts 4:32-37)
This brief comment, on the way how the believers shared their possessions, pictures the social order in the early Christian community. This order is no doubt influenced by the fervent expectation of the coming of the kingdom of God.
Vocabulary
Word | Meaning | |
---|---|---|
πλῆθος, ους, τό | multitude | |
πιστεύω | believe | |
καρδία, ας, ἡ | heart | |
ψυχή, ῆς, ἡ | life, person, soul | |
λέγω | say | |
ἴδιος, α, ον | own | |
ἀλλά | but, however | |
ἅπας, ασα, αν | whole, all | |
κοινός, ή, όν | common; communal | |
δύναμις, εως, ἡ | power; deed of power |
Biblical text
4:32Τοῦ δὲ πλήθους τῶν πιστευσάντων ἦν καρδία καὶ ψυχὴ μία, καὶ οὐδὲ εἷς τι τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐτῷ ἔλεγεν ἴδιον εἶναι, ἀλλ’ ἦν αὐτοῖς πάντα κοινά.33καὶ δυνάμει μεγάλῃ ἀπεδίδουν τὸ μαρτύριον οἱ ἀπόστολοι τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ τῆς ἀναστάσεως, χάρις τε μεγάλη ἦν ἐπὶ πάντας αὐτούς.34οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐνδεής τις ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς· ὅσοι γὰρ κτήτορες χωρίων ἢ οἰκιῶν ὑπῆρχον, πωλοῦντες ἔφερον τὰς τιμὰς τῶν πιπρασκομένων35καὶ ἐτίθουν παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τῶν ἀποστόλων· διεδίδετο δὲ ἑκάστῳ καθότι ἄν τις χρείαν εἶχεν.36Ἰωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἐπικληθεὶς Βαρνάβας ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων, ὅ ἐστιν μεθερμηνευόμενον Υἱὸς παρακλήσεως, Λευείτης, Κύπριος τῷ γένει,37ὑπάρχοντος αὐτῷ ἀγροῦ, πωλήσας ἤνεγκεν τὸ χρῆμα καὶ ἔθηκεν πρὸς τοὺς πόδας τῶν ἀποστόλων.