And upon my servants indeed and upon my handmaids will I pour out in those days of my spirit: and they shall prophesy.
και γε επι τους δουλους μου και επι τας δουλας μου εν ταις ημεραις εκειναις εκχεω απο του πνευματος μου και προφητευσουσιν
6 Church Fathers comment on this verse
"And on My menservants and on My maidservants." This too is a sign of virtue, because we have become servants of God, having been freed from sin. The gift is abundant, since the grace passes also to the other sex and is not limited to one or two persons, as in ancient times, for example Deborah and Huldah.
It is not said, "I will pour out My Spirit," but, "of My Spirit." Not the Spirit, but the gift of the Spirit is poured out upon all flesh, and specifically upon flesh that has believed, that is, upon the Gentiles.
But he does not yet reveal this to them. The words "upon all flesh" give them good hope and do not allow them to appropriate the expected blessings to themselves alone.
By this very thing he cuts envy off at its root. Notice also how varied is the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
One who has the grace of the Spirit prophesies. Another, incapable of this ministry, receives the gift of visions.
Thus Peter sees the vessel at the sixth hour of the day. Thus Cornelius sees an angel at the ninth hour.
Vision by the heart is not called a glance or sight, ορααμα, but vision, ορασις.
A vision is seen in one way, as when the one who sees says, "Go." A theorem is seen in another way, when one no longer sees with the eyes.
In still another way, people are instructed by images presented in sleep.
Then the twelve apostles came forward to the people, and Peter, no longer the former Peter, timid and fearful, but courageous and fearless, spoke to them.
He said that the extraordinary event now accomplished among them was the action of the Holy Spirit, whom God had once promised to send upon His servants.
He also said that Jesus Himself had sent this Spirit upon them, the disciples of Jesus. This was the same Jesus whom the Jews had recently crucified there.
God raised Him from the dead, glorified Him, and seated Him at His right hand. Therefore Jesus is the Christ.
The recent teachings of the Risen One Himself had shown that Christ had to suffer, and only by this path enter into His glory.
The present enlightenment of the Spirit of God opened for Peter's speech a new source of strength and proofs in the prophecies.
Until then they had been obscure and could not exert such force over the minds of the Jews. Now they were intelligible to everyone who wished to know the truth.
The sign from heaven, which the Jews had so often and vainly asked of Jesus, now appeared of itself from Him who had ascended into heaven.
It bore witness to where the Crucified One now abode, whom they had considered powerless.
The ability to speak in new and unknown languages was an extraordinary gift among the miracles known from ancient and more recent times.
Naturally, the Jews ought to know the prophecies and revere them, not laugh at their fulfillment or remain only in idle wonder and perplexity.
What, then, is said there? "And it shall be in the last days, says the Lord, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. For upon My menservants and upon My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
And I will give wonders in heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
And it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
At the reminder of a prophecy, and such a wondrous prophecy concerning the common salvation of mankind, could the Jerusalem hearers refuse attention to the preacher?
It remained for him only to apply the word, showing that the present event is truly the fulfillment of the Word of God.
In this consists the whole of Peter's further speech. In it the greeting or appeal to the hearers is renewed, as though with a new invitation to still greater attention, if that were possible.
"Upon My menservants and upon My maidservants": in the prophet it is only "upon menservants and maidservants." This indicates something extraordinary in the Old Testament.
In the whole Old Testament we do not find a single case in which a male slave or female slave possessed the gift of prophecy.
According to the prophetic view, this distinction of conditions in relation to the actions of the Spirit will have no place in the times of the Messiah.
The Spirit will pour out His gifts without distinction of status. The Gospel will destroy the bonds of slavery.
In the Kingdom of Christ all are equal before the Lord, and all are servants of the Lord. The gifts of the Spirit will not be distributed according to outward condition.
"They shall prophesy," meaning the male and female servants. Here, as in verse 17, prophecy is taken as a general expression for the actions of the Spirit, chiefly known in the Old Testament.
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the servants of God is clearly mentioned to express the full diversity of persons upon whom the gifts of the Holy Spirit will be poured.
At the same time, it recalls that not Jews alone, but all flesh, as verse 17 says, will partake of these wondrous gifts.
Therefore even slaves, according to the prophet's exact expression, will not be deprived of them. In the Old Testament it is not reported that they were ever bearers of special gifts of the Holy Spirit.
But in the Kingdom of the Messiah and Savior, there is neither slave nor free, neither male nor female (Gal 3:28).
Therefore there is no difference here in the outpouring of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit upon male and female slaves together with the free.
The gifts of the Spirit are given not according to outward condition, but according to inner disposition; see 1 Cor 12:4-11.
According to one of our interpreters, Archpriest A. Polotebnov, the apostle, citing the words of the prophet Joel, speaks as though saying this to the Jews.
"The gift of tongues, manifested in a community of men, young men, and women, and striking you with wonder, is an evident sign of the New Covenant's arrival."
"It was foretold concerning that covenant that the Holy Spirit would then be poured out upon all, that is, upon whoever would then be a true servant of God."
"It was also foretold that all would then prophesy. The descent of the Spirit was accompanied by fire and a heavenly sound, which gathered you and struck you with wonder."
"Here is a new sign that the Kingdom of the Messiah has already come. Joel foretold its wondrous heavenly and earthly events together with the prophecy concerning the Holy Spirit."
"The outpouring from Him will end with the time of a universal and fearful upheaval in the universe."
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 22 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS