Acts 1:9-11 and the Hyper-Preterism Debate by Keith A. Mathison

Acts 1:9
And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and
a cloud took him out of their sight.
The entire account of the ascension is told very succinctly in three verses. Luke
connects Acts 1:9 to the previous text with the conjunction kai (“and”) and two
participles: the aorist participle eipōn (“after he said,” or “when he had said”) and the
present participle blepontōn (“while they were looking,” or “as they were looking”). As
C.K. Barrett observes,
The contrast between aorist and present participles is intentional and significant.
Jesus has now said all that he has to say to his disciples. The promise of the Spirit
and the commission to act as witnesses complete his work on earth. The disciples
however are still looking at him, and are thus able to vouch for his ascent into
heaven. 70
As we noted above, Randall Otto argues that Luke’s use of a form of the verb blepō does
not require us to assert that the disciples were actually looking at Jesus. He argues that
had Luke intended this meaning, he certainly would have mentioned Christ as the direct
object. He then adds, “according to the standard Greek lexicon, blepō is used here
abstractly; there is no object at which the disciples can be said to be looking.”
There are several problems with Otto’s line of reasoning. First, he is ignoring the
immediate context. According to the context, the entire ascension event, including the
lifting up of Jesus, is what the disciples saw in verse 9. And if it is still claimed that the
disciples were not looking at Jesus himself, all we have to do is observe the content of
verse 11, which does provide an explicit direct object, saying: “you saw him (auton)
go.” 71
Second, Otto’s claim about the definition of blepō in the standard Greek lexicon is
incorrect. The second edition of the Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich Greek-English lexicon (the
lexicon cited by Otto) does not say that blepō is used “abstractly” in Acts 1:9. The
meaning of the abbreviation “abs.” is provided in the introductory pages of the lexicon.
According to the editors, it means “absolute,” not “abstract.” 72
70 C.K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Vol. 1, The International
Critical Commentary, eds. J.A. Emerton, C.E.B. Cranfield, and G.N. Stanton (Edinburgh: T&T Clark,
1994), 81.
71 Greek, ejqeavsasqe aujtoVn poreuovmenon (etheasasthe auton poreuomenon).
72 See BAGD, xxxix.
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