Acts 1:15–1:26, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Acts 1:15–1:26
Scripture, criteria, prayer, and lot fill Judas's place
Peter reads Judas's collapse through Scripture and the assembly sets a criterion
In those days Peter stands among about a hundred and twenty and interprets Judas's field, death, and vacated office through the Psalms. The charge is betrayal and the need for a witness to Jesus' life from John's baptism to the ascension. Two men are put forward: Joseph called Barsabas, surnamed Justus, and Matthias. The community prays that the Lord who knows hearts will show which of the two he has chosen, then they give forth their lots, and the lot falls on Matthias.
Several acts sit together: scriptural interpretation, eyewitness qualification, communal nomination, prayer, and a lot. Western witnesses vary in details of Judas's end and of this scene. The narrative does not say the lot became the church's permanent selection method, and it does not license later groups to settle disputes, callings, or finances by chance.
The Twelve are restored as witnesses, not as a lottery board
Matthias is numbered with the eleven so that the restored circle can bear testimony. The lot here is a particular act after prayer, not a modern technique, not a way to avoid hard discernment, and not a proof that God prefers chance over character.
How this should shape us
When leadership fails, tell the truth, search Scripture, name real qualifications, and pray. Do not copy the lot as a method for hiring, dating, voting, or claiming God's will, and do not treat textual variations as a license to invent a cleaner story.
Teach it back
Explain Acts 1:15–1:26 in your own words, naming its movement, speaker or narrator role, one source-controlled detail, one uncertainty, one affected person, and one conclusion the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible interpreters differ?
Best judgment: The narrative combines apostolic witness, scriptural interpretation, communal nomination, prayer, and a lot; it does not say the lot became the church's permanent selection method, and Western witnesses vary in details.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and unit coverage.
Acts 1:15–1:26, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control, without pretending one edition is a complete apparatus.
SBLGNT official text, Acts 1:15-1:26
Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for words explicitly discussed in this unit.
STEP Bible Data, TAGNT rows for Acts 1:15-1:26
Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, geography, chronology, and historical notes actually printed for the unit.
NET Bible First Edition Acts PDF, printed pp. 2104-2205, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 1:15–1:26
Supports: Introductory critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, with contested judgments retained as interpretations.
Yale Bible Study Acts course, course unit 'The Church Begins in Jerusalem,' Acts 1-4 study guide
Supports: One complete confessional commentary reading, independently checked against the text and critical controls.
Thompson, online Acts commentary, heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Acts 1:15–1:26
Supports: Abstract-supported control for Jewish continuity and Gentile inclusion in Acts 1:15–1:26, not a settlement of every conflict scene.
Smith, JTS 72.2 (2021), pp. 738-765, official abstract and bibliographic record
Supports: Direct manuscript evidence only where a material Western reading is named; Bezae is not treated as the Western text as a whole.
IGNTP Codex Bezae Acts transcription, verse-addressable witness at 1:15–1:26, checked with SBLGNT and the NET tc note
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and unit coverage.
Exact location: Acts 1:15–1:26, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control, without pretending one edition is a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text, Acts 1:15-1:26
Open the Acts Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for words explicitly discussed in this unit.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data, TAGNT rows for Acts 1:15-1:26
Open source ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Acts
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, geography, chronology, and historical notes actually printed for the unit.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Acts PDF, printed pp. 2104-2205, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 1:15–1:26
Open source ↗open university bible study course
Acts of the Apostles Course and Study Guides
Yale Divinity School faculty
Yale Bible Study, 2019
Supports: Introductory critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, with contested judgments retained as interpretations.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study Acts course, course unit 'The Church Begins in Jerusalem,' Acts 1-4 study guide
Open source ↗open confessional commentary
The Acts of the Apostles
Alan J. Thompson
The Gospel Coalition, 2023
Supports: One complete confessional commentary reading, independently checked against the text and critical controls.
Exact location: Thompson, online Acts commentary, heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Acts 1:15–1:26
Open source ↗peer reviewed article abstract and metadata
The Jewishness of Luke-Acts: How Recent Scholarship Has Challenged the View that Luke-Acts Is Pro-Gentile and Anti-Jewish
Joshua Paul Smith
The Journal of Theological Studies 72.2, 2021
Supports: Abstract-supported control for Jewish continuity and Gentile inclusion in Acts 1:15–1:26, not a settlement of every conflict scene.
Exact location: Smith, JTS 72.2 (2021), pp. 738-765, official abstract and bibliographic record
Open source ↗primary manuscript transcription
Codex Bezae: Electronic Transcription of Acts
International Greek New Testament Project
Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing, University of Birmingham, 2012 transcription; current online edition
Supports: Direct manuscript evidence only where a material Western reading is named; Bezae is not treated as the Western text as a whole.
Exact location: IGNTP Codex Bezae Acts transcription, verse-addressable witness at 1:15–1:26, checked with SBLGNT and the NET tc note
Open source ↗