SEV Biblia, Chapter 8:10
al cual oían todos atentamente, desde el ms pequeo hasta el ms grande, diciendo: Esta es la gran virtud de Dios.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Acts 8:10
Verse 10. This man is the great power of God.] That is, he is invested with it, and can command and use it. They certainly did not believe him to be God; but they thought him to be endued with a great supernatural power. There is a remarkable reading here in several MSS. which should not pass unnoticed. In ABCDE, several others, together with the AEthiopic, Armenian, later Syriac, Vulgate, Itala, Origen, and Irenaeus, the word kaloumenh is added before megalh, and the passage reads thus, This person is that power of God which is CALLED the GREAT. This appears to be the true reading; but what the Samaritans meant by that power of God which they termed the Great, we know not. Simon endeavoured to persuade the people that he was a very great personage, and he succeeded.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 10. To whom they all gave heed , etc.] Were not only attentive to the strange things he did, and to the wonderful things he gave out concerning himself; but they believed what he said and did as real things, and were obedient to him: and that from the least to the greatest ; which does not so much respect age, though the Ethiopic version renders it, from the younger of them to the eldest of them, as state and condition; persons of every rank and quality, high and low, rich and poor, magistrates and subjects, from the meanest to the greatest of them; and so the Syriac version renders it, both great, or noble, and mean; he drew the attention, and commanded the regard, both of princes and peasants, of the learned and unlearned, of the great men, and of the common people, who one and all wondered at him, and applauded him: saying, this man is the great power of God ; or as the Alexandrian copy and some others, and the Vulgate Latin version read, this is the power of God which is called great; they took him for the supreme Deity, or as Justin Martyr expresses it, they accounted him the first, or chief God, or they looked upon him to be the Messiah, the great power of God: as the Syriac version renders it; and who should be great, and called the Son of the Highest, ( Luke 1:32).
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 5-13 - As far as the gospel prevails, evil spirits are dislodged, particularl unclean spirits. All inclinations to the lusts of the flesh which wa against the soul are such. Distempers are here named, the mos difficult to be cured by the course of nature, and most expressive of the disease of sin. Pride, ambition, and desire after grandeur have always caused abundance of mischief, both to the world and to the church. The people said of Simon, This man is the great power of God See how ignorant and thoughtless people mistake. But how strong is the power of Divine grace, by which they were brought to Christ, who is Truth itself! The people not only gave heed to what Philip said, but were fully convinced that it was of God, and not of men, and gave u themselves to be directed thereby. Even bad men, and those whose heart still go after covetousness, may come before God as his people come and for a time continue with them. And many wonder at the proofs of Divine truths, who never experience their power. The gospel preache may have a common operation upon a soul, where it never produced inwar holiness. All are not savingly converted who profess to believe the gospel.
Greek Textus Receptus
ω 3739 R-DSM προσειχον 4337 5707 V-IAI-3P παντες 3956 A-NPM απο 575 PREP μικρου 3398 A-GSM εως 2193 CONJ μεγαλου 3173 A-GSM λεγοντες 3004 5723 V-PAP-NPM ουτος 3778 D-NSM εστιν 2076 5748 V-PXI-3S η 3588 T-NSF δυναμις 1411 N-NSF του 3588 T-GSM θεου 2316 N-GSM η 3588 T-NSF μεγαλη 3173 A-NSF
Vincent's NT Word Studies
10. The great power of God. The best texts add hJ kaloumenh, which is called, and render that power of God which ms called great. They believed that Simon was an impersonated power of God, which, as the highest of powers, they designated as the great.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
8:10 {That power of God which is called Great} (he dunamis tou qeou he kaloumene megale). Apparently here already the oriental doctrine of emanations or aeons so rampant in the second century. this "power" was considered a spark of God himself and Jerome (in #Mt 24) quotes Simon (Page) as saying: _Ego sum sermo Dei, ... ego omnipotens, ego omnia Dei_. Simon claimed to _impersonate God_.
