Acts 2:23 (WEB)

Passage

him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;

Nearby Context

Acts 2:21 It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’Joel 2:28-32

Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him among you, even as you yourselves know,

Acts 2:23 him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;

Acts 2:24 whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.

Acts 2:25 For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before my face, For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "foreknow", "delivered", "determined", "counsel", "foreknowledge", "taken", "hand", and "lawless". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "foreknow" and "delivered", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "Men of Israel hear these words Jesus..." into verse 24's "whom God raised up having freed him...", so "foreknow" and "delivered" belong inside that flow. In Acts context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "foreknow" and "delivered" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.