“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:”
'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. — the eschatological quotation (Joel 2:28-29 LXX) promises universal Spirit-gifting ('all flesh,' pasan sarka, all flesh/humanity without distinction). The pouring out (ekchusis, pouring forth, outpouring) is abundant, irresistible, and democratizing: sons and daughters, young and old, all receive the Spirit's gift. The phenomena (prophecy, visions, dreams) are the Spirit's common methods of communication.
Church Fathers on Acts 2:17
[He men of Judea, and all you that dwell at Jerusalem,] whom the writer above described as strangers. Here he directs his discourse to those others, the mockers, and while he seems to reason with those, he sets these right. For indeed it was divinely ordered that some mocked, that he might have a starting-point for his defense, and by means of that defense, might teach. [And all you that dwell in Jerusalem.] It seems they accounted it a high encomium to dwell in Jerusalem…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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