Acts 13:20

“And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.”

King James Version (KJV)

Other Translations

And after that he gaue vnto them iudges, about the space of foure hundred and fifty yeeres vntill Samuel the Prophet.
- King James Version (1611) - View 1611 Bible Scan

"After these things He gave {them} judges until Samuel the prophet.
- New American Standard Version (1995)

and after these things he gave `them' judges until Samuel the prophet.
- American Standard Version (1901)

And after these things he gave them judges, till the time of Samuel the prophet.
- Basic English Bible

And after these things he gave [them] judges till Samuel the prophet, [to the end of] about four hundred and fifty years.
- Darby Bible

And after that he gave to them judges, about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.
- Webster's Bible

and afterwards He gave them judges down to the time of the Prophet Samuel.
- Weymouth Bible

After these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
- World English Bible

as aftir foure hundrid and fifti yeeris. And aftir these thingis he yaf domesmen, to Samuel, the profete.
- Wycliffe Bible

`And after these things, about four hundred and fifty years, He gave judges -- till Samuel the prophet;
- Youngs Literal Bible

Bible commentary

Wesley's Notes for Acts 13:20


13:18 #Deut 1:31|.

13:19 Seven nations - Enumerated #Deut 7:1|; about four hundred and fifty years - That is, from the choice of the fathers to the dividing of the land; it was about four hundred and fifty years.

13:21 He gave them Saul forty years - Including the time wherein Samuel judged Israel.

13:22 Having removed him - Hence they might understand that the dispensations of God admit of various changes. I have found David, a man after my own heart - This expression is to be taken in a limited sense. David was such at that time, but not at all times. And he was so, in that respect, as he performed all God's will, in the particulars there mentioned: But he was not a man after God's own heart, in other respects, wherein he performed his own will. In the matter of Uriah, for instance, he was as far from being a man after God's own heart as Saul himself was. It is therefore a very gross, as well as dangerous mistake, to suppose this is the character of David in every part of his behaviour. We must beware of this, unless we would recommend adultery and murder as things after God's own heart. #1Sam 16:12|,13.


People's Bible Notes for Acts 13:20


Ac 13:20 After that he gave [unto them] judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years. This statement seems to conflict with 1Ki 6:1, which assigns 480 years to the period between the coming out of Egypt and the fourth year of the reign of Solomon. This would allow only about 300 years to the period of the Judges. David's reign was forty years, Saul's the same, the period in the wilderness the same, Joshua ruled about twenty-five years, add four years for Solomon, and we have 149 years, which, taken from 480 years, leaves 331 for the time of Judges and Samuel. The apparent discrepancy between Paul and the writer of 1 Kings is removed, however, by the Revised Version, based on the oldest and best Greek text. It changes the place where "and after that" occurs, so that the passage reads, "When he had destroyed the seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance, for about four hundred and fifty years: and after these things (i.e., after the allotment of the land and all before mentioned) he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet". The 450 years, in my judgment, includes the period from the departure out of Egypt to the reign of David, the two greatest eras in Jewish history before Christ.

Discussion for Acts 13:20

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