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Acts 2:40-47 – A Chiastic Interpretation
Acts 2:40-47 (HCSB) (40) And with many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!” (41) So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. (42) And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. (43) Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. (44) Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. (45) They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. (46) Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, (47) praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.
All admit there are repeating themes; but do we notice and connect all them correctly? Notice while not in a perfect chiastic form, this section does form a loose chiasm:
A – vv.40-41 – (40) And with many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!” (41) So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them.
B – v.42 – And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.
C – v. 43 – Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.
D – v.44 – Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.
D’ – v.45 – They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need.
B’ – v.46-47a – Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, (47) praising God
C’ – v. 47b – having favor with all the people.
A’ – v.47c – And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.
The passage begins and ends with the inclusio that God saved people. Notice that this ties in nicely with showing that the Holy Spirit says baptism (v.41) results in: 1) being saved (v.40) which is the same as v.38; 2) being separated from (v.40) a perverse generation which will be lost; and 3) being added/ prostithēmi (vv.41,47) by God to His people.
A – vv.40-41 – (40) And with many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!” (41) So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them.
A’ – v.47c – And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.
In the middle we have verses 44-45, twice stating the same benevolent love as the central thought which is the purpose of a chiastic structure. In marking out the chiasm it would be appropriate to keep this as two as marked above, or one as in: D – (44) Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. (45) They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need.
This brings us to verses 42 and 46-47. Notice again the repeating thoughts although not in the exact same order:
- And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching (v.42)
- Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex (v.46).
- The second phrase adds specificity to both how often and where they met for teaching.
- To the fellowship (v.42) – koinonia in v.42 is related to koinos in v.44. In v.42 it is left undefined but gets expanded upon within the text with reference to charity among believers which suggests this understanding in v.42 of fellowship. It was a financial fellowship among believers as they shared their belongings.
- As the second part of the chiasm explains further the meeting of the disciples; the second part also explains the “fellowship” – “They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude” (v.46). If this is understood to be repeating the thought in v.41, and again the central thought is love among needy brothers and sisters, then this is not to be interpreted as what we might call a pot-luck or simply social gatherings among those of equal financial standing. It was inviting needy Christians in their homes as an act of charity.
- To breaking of bread (v.42) – This is the Lord’s Supper
- Broke bread from house to house (v.46) – Often times this second reference to breaking bread is considered different from the first. However, if we are in the same context does it make sense to use the same words to mean different things? If these are repeating ideas, this breaking bread from house to house is the Lord’s Supper and is not the same as taking their meals together. They are two separate activities. The breaking of bread would be the Lord’s Supper, and the taking their meals acts of charity towards needy saints. This is possibly the “Love Feasts” spoken of mostly within extracurricular Biblical writings. Such meals are separate from the Lord’s Supper. The only possible problem I see with this interpretation would be the idea some have that the Lord’s Supper must only be taken in the assembly of the whole church. But then again, maybe that should be questioned as an absolute. Then again, I personally doubt that the Jews would allow 3000 people to take the Lord’s Supper in the temple complex.
- Prayer (v.42)
- Praising God (v.47)
- Again this expands up the first. Prayer is specific, but praising God can include prayer along with other means such as singing and exclamations of Hallelujah.
There is no doubt that there are repeating themes throughout this section. The question is whether every theme is repeated. If not, then why would only communion be left out in vv.46-47? Considering the importance of communion as seen in Acts 20, 1 Cor.10-11, and extra-biblical writings, that would not seem likely. It would make the Lord’s Supper the least emphasized aspect in Acts 2. If my organization and interpretation is correct, then everything listed in v.42 is repeated in vv.46-47. That means the Lord’s Supper is mentioned at least twice, as the rest of the actions in v.42.
So if I am correct, what are the ramifications or is this just an exercise in curious structure? Seldom is structure just curious, often it is essential to the foundation of a better understanding. After all, if the simple structure of a sentence determines the interpretation, why not the more complex structure of the pericope or paragraph? So what do we learn?
1. If “day by day” is distributive then it shows the Lord’s Supper can be a daily event and not weekly. Such is not demanded by the text however; and “day by day” can apply only to the section describing the temple activity. However again, we must always be opened to letting the text teach, and say what it says. Having said that, the connection of the Lord’s Supper to the resurrection; the unique and connective phrases “the Lord’s Supper” (1 Cor.11:20) and “the Lord’s Day” (Rev.1:10); plus Acts 20:7; along with historical records; shows the most likely conclusion is that “day by day” is not distributive but rather only applies to meeting daily for instruction. Therefore the Lord’s Supper is still an activity reserved for the first day of the week.
2. If “breaking bread from house to house” is the Lord’s Supper, then we find authority for taking the Lord’s Supper outside of the general assembly along with other saints. Considering 1 Cor.10:16-17 Paul says all Christians – “we” – share in the cup (singular) and “one” bread” suggests the communion or sharing is more universal than just the local assembly. After all, Paul was not physically with the Corinthians, but spiritually took the Lord’s Supper with them as part of the one body.
As we all know, translations can lead the reader to certain conclusions simply through how something is punctuated or phrased. Looking at different translations of Acts 2:46-47a, we see how subtly different these interpretations can be. Below I will just list some of the more literally accurate for demonstration.
(HCSB) (46) Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, (47) praising God….
- The punctuation of the HCSB with a period between “broke bread from house to house” and “They ate their food” suggests to the reader these two phrases could be to different actions. If this above chiastic structure is correct, this lends credence to this punctuation.
(NASB) (46) Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47) praising God….
- The NASB simply uses commas between the phrases. However by adding or placing “and,” which in the Greek is the third word in the verse, before “breaking bread,” it does suggest that “breaking bread from house to house” is connected to “they were taking their meals together.”
- The ESV is basically the same language as the NASB except it includes “and” as the first word in the sentence and then adds it again as does the NASB before breaking bread.
(NET) (46) Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts, (47) praising God….
- Like the NASB and ESV, the punctuation is commas separating each phrase.
(NLT) – (46) They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47) all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
- This translation interprets “broke bread” as the Lord’s Supper. This teaches what I believe the verse is saying although the NLT does get too free in translating v.42 – All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
- I believe the “fellowship” of v.42 is the sharing of meals and the phrase “sharing in meals” is not found in the Greek.
There is one grammatical argument I want to address that suggests the possibility that this interpretation is wrong. I am not a Greek scholar, but I want to suggest that the placement of and/kai might imply “broke bread” and “ate their food” are the same. And/kai is sometimes used in the Greek to separate ideas, or as punctuation. There is no and/kai between “broke bread” and “They ate their food.” So does that mean they are the same? Let’s look at how and/kai is used in Acts 2:46-47 without adding any punctuation:
- Every day AND steadfastly continuing with one accord in the temple breaking AND from house bread they partook of food with gladness AND sincerity praising the God
- Three times and/kai is used. But it does not appear to be used as a period separating ideas.
The conclusion I am suggesting is this. Based upon the structure of the entire passage, breaking bread in both v.42 and v.46 refer to the Lord’s Supper. Also, fellowship in v.42 is the same as eating their food in v.46 as a charity meal for the needy saints. Therefore in v.46, breaking bread is not the same as eating their food. The first is the Lord’s Supper, and the second is supper or meals for needing saints.
Another conclusion is this suggests that the overall structure, whether it is a chiasm or sentence structures, should be taken into account when interpreting and translating.
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