Acts 19:2 - Exposition

And he said for he said, A.V. and T.R.; did ye receive for have ye received, A.V.; when for since, A.V. ; nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost was given for we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost, A.V. Did ye receive , etc.? The R.V. gives the sense much more accurately than the A.V., which is, "Did ye receive the Holy Ghost at the time of your baptism, when ye first believed?" Something led the apostle to suspect that they had not received the seal of the Spirit (comp. Ephesians 1:13 , πιστεύσαντες ἐσφραγίσθητε ) , and so he asked the question. The answer, Nay, we did, not so much as hear whether the Holy Ghost was given , as in the R.V., is justified by John 7:39 , where the exactly similar phrase, οὔπω ἧν πνεῦμα ἅγιον , is rendered in the A.V., "The Holy Spirit was not yet given." " Esse pro adesse " (Bengel). The sense given in the A.V. does not seem probable. The answer means, "Not only have we not received the Holy Spirit, but we had not even heard that the dispensation of the Spirit was Come."