Acts 2:17

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, etc.] In Joel it is, “afterwards”; instead of which Peter puts, “in the last days”; the sense is the same: and so R. David Kimchi, a celebrated commentator with the Jews, observes, that “afterwards” is the same “as in the last days”, and which design the times of the Messiah; for according to a rule given by the same writer on (<230202>Isaiah 2:2) wherever the last days are mentioned, the days of the Messiah are intended. Saith God, or “the Lord”, as the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read. This clause is added by Peter, and is not in Joel; and very rightly, since what follow are the words of God speaking in his own person: I will pour out my…”

“in the last days--meaning, the days of the Messiah (Isa 2:2); as closing all preparatory arrangements, and constituting the final dispensation of God's kingdom on earth. pour out of my Spirit--in contrast with the mere drops of all preceding time. upon all flesh--hitherto confined to the seed of Abraham. sons . . . daughters . . . young men . . . old men . . . servants . . . handmaidens--without distinction of sex, age, or rank. see visions . . . dream dreams--This is a mere accommodation to the ways in which the Spirit operated under the ancient economy, when the prediction was delivered; for in the New Testament, visions and dreams are rather the exception than the rule.”

“It shall come to pass - It shall happen, or shall occur. In the last days - Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, after these things, or afterward. The expression the last days, however, occurs frequently in the Old Testament: Genesis 49:1, Jacob called his sons, that he might tell them what should happen to them in the last days, that is, in future times - Heb. in after times; Micah 4:1, “In the last days (Hebrew: in later times) the mountain of the Lord’s house,” etc.; Isaiah 2:2, “in the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the tops of the mountains,” etc. The expression then properly denoted “the future times” in general. But, as the coming of the Messiah was…”

“The times of the Messiah are frequently called the last days, the Gospel being the last dispensation of Divine grace. I will pour out of my Spirit - Not on the day of pentecost only, upon all flesh - On persons of every age, sex, and rank. And your young men shall see visions - In young men the outward sense, are most vigorous, and the bodily strength is entire, whereby they are best qualified to sustain the shock which usually attends the visions of God. In old men the internal senses are most vigorous, suited to divine dreams. Not that the old are wholly excluded from the former, nor the young from the latter. Acts 2:18”

“2:17-21 This passage quotes Joel 2:28-32. The prophet Joel predicted a wider exercise of the gifts of prophecy, including visions and dreams by both young and old, both men and women in the last days (Joel 2:28-29). In Acts, on the day of Pentecost, Peter declared that Joel’s prophecy was being fulfilled, signaling that “the last days” had arrived.”

“in: Gen 49:1; Isa 2:2; Dan 10:14; Hos 3:5; Mic 4:1; Heb 1:2; Jam 5:3; Pe2 3:3 I will: Act 10:45; Psa 72:6; Pro 1:23; Isa 32:15, Isa 32:16, Isa 44:3; Eze 11:19, Eze 36:25-27; Eze 39:29; Zac 12:10; Joh 7:39; Tit 3:4-6 all: Gen 6:12; Psa 65:2; Isa 40:5, Isa 49:26, Isa 66:23; Zac 2:13; Luk 3:6; Joh 17:2 your sons: Act 11:28, Act 21:9; Co1 12:10, Co1 12:28, Co1 14:26-31 Acts 2:18”