Literally, “from the face.” The “refreshing” comes directly from the throne of God.

 Gr. hopōs an, “so that.” Lexicographers and grammarians are unanimous that hopōs an indicates purpose rather than time. Hopōs, with or without an (the meaning is not distinguished), occurs 56 times in the NT, and only here is it translated “when.” Elsewhere it is translated “how” (Matt. 22:15; Luke 24:20), “so that” (Luke 16:26), “because” (Acts 20:16), but most frequently it is translated “that,” or by some other expression of purpose (Acts 8:15; 9:12, 17, 24; Rom. 3:4; etc.). Nowhere do the translators of the KJV introduce a time element except in Acts 3:19. Thus the present passage should read “so that,” rather than “when.” The reading of the KJV seems to have arisen in the following way: The earliest Latin versions appear to have translated hopōs an correctly as ut, which in Latin, when used as a conjunction, often means “so that.” However, ut is somewhat ambiguous because, in a temporal clause, it may mean “when.”

Later scribes, reading this passage, apparently were in doubt as to which meaning ut should be given here. Some, thinking that the adverbial meaning was intended, either changed the word to cum, “when,” or inserted cum in the margin to guide the reader in interpreting the verse. Thus some Latin texts read cum, “when,” instead of it. Others, including the common editions of the Vulgate, have a conflated reading, ut cum, “so that when,” which probably arose from incorporating the marginal gloss, cum, into the text without dropping ut. Such a reading, however, does not make good grammatical sense. Nevertheless it is found in most of the later medieval Latin texts, and from these was taken into the earliest English Bible. Thus Wyclif’s translation (1382), made from the Vulgate, reads, “That youre synnes be don awey, that whanne the tymes of refreischynge shculn come fro the sight of the Lord.” This awkward rendering is also reflected in the DouayRheims Version (1582), “That your sinnes may be put out, that vvhen the times shal come of refreshing by the sight of our Lord.” Tyndale (1534) made good grammar of the passage, but he produced a wrong translation. “That your synnes may be done awaye, when the tyme of refresshinge commeth which we shall have of the presence of the Lord.” This rendering of hopōs an as “when,” went into the KJV. However, the Greek should be translated, “that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (RSV).

The conversion of sinners will have a power to accelerate the fulfillment of God’s purposes, and accordingly, to hasten the coming of His kingdom in its completeness.

While it is true that the Greek of this passage does not contain the temporal quality that the KJV rendering suggests, nevertheless a study of related scriptures reveals that a certain time sequence is here set forth by Peter. He called on his hearers to “repent” and “be converted.” These acts, said he, would be followed by

 (1) the blotting out of their sins,

 (2) the coming of the “times of refreshing,” and

 (3) the glorious advent of Jesus Christ.

In any discussion of the time sequence in Peter’s words, two points should be kept in mind:

 (1) In common with the other disciples, Peter did not know “the times or the seasons” (Acts 1:7; cf. John 21:20-23). He had a foreshortened view of the future, and joyously hoped for the very early return of his Lord (see Additional Note on Rom. 13).

 (2) By divine illumination Peter saw that certain prophecies of “the last days” were meeting a fulfillment in his day. Indeed, his illumination may have enabled him to see only this immediate and what proved to be a limited fulfillment, though that point is not vital to this discussion. For example, on the day of Pentecost he declared that Joel’s prophecy that in “the last days” God would pour out of His Spirit on all flesh, was then meeting fulfillment (Acts 2:14-18). Truly there was a limited fulfillment of the prophecy of a divine outpouring. It was also true, as already stated, that in one sense of the word the sins of converted men were then blotted out, for they were covered by the saving blood of Jesus Christ.

 But in the perspective of God’s unfolding plans, particularly fulfilling prophecy, we can now see that in the most literal and complete sense “the last days” are our present days and that it is now we may rightly expect the coming of Christ. Likewise, we see that the great outpouring of God’s spirit, the mighty “times of refreshing,” belong most particularly to our days, the days of “the latter rain” (see on Joel 2:23). With equal propriety we may— and indeed, should—view the blotting out of sins as belonging to our time. Why separate it widely from the other two events that Peter said would take place? Indeed, when we study this subject of the blotting out of sins in the setting of Christ’s work in the heavenly sanctuary (see on Dan. 8:14), we discover that the actual blotting out of sins takes place in the last days of earth’s history, immediately preceding Christ’s coming (see PP 357, 358; GC 421, 422; see on Eze. 18:24). That these three events are tied together is made more evident by the RSV: “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ” (Acts 3:19, 20).

 Thus it becomes evident that Peter’s statement (v. 19), taken as a whole, contains a most definite temporal element. Evidently, Peter, speaking by inspiration, and thus beyond his own finite understanding, is referring, tersely, to two great events of earth’s last days—

 (1) the mighty outpouring of God’s Spirit, and

 (2) the final blotting out of the sins of the righteous—which are tied to a third climactic event, the second advent of Christ.

 Or, “wiped away.” Repeatedly in Scripture the forgiveness of sin is portrayed as a washing (see John 13:10; Rev. 1:5; see on Rev. 22:14). The thought of wiping away sin is a similar one. The image that may underlie the words here is that of an indictment that catalogues the sins of the penitent, which the pardoning love of the Father cancels (see Isa. 43:25; Col. 2:14; see on Matt. 1:21; 3:6; 26:28; Luke 3:3). The immediate result to those who accepted Peter’s call to repentance was the forgiveness of their sins. In this sense the blotting out of their sins may be regarded as having occurred immediately. In the ultimate sense, however, the final blotting out of sin takes place just before the second advent of Christ in connection with the close of Christ’s work as High Priest (see below under “when”). Guilt for specific sins is canceled when they are confessed and forgiven; they are expunged from the record in the day of judgment (cf. Eze. 3:20; 18:24; 33:13; GC 485).

 Gr. epistrephō, “to turn about.” In the LXX this word is used frequently to translate the Heb. shub, “to return,” a word that often has the spiritual sense of returning to God (see on Eze. 18:30). Epistrephō is a peculiarly appropriate word for the change that takes place when one accepts Christ as Saviour and King, and Luke uses it repeatedly in this sense (see Acts 9:35; 11:21; 26:20). Conversion is the basis of a genuine Christian experience. It is distinguished from the new birth (John 3:3, 5) only in that it may be considered as the act of man in turning away from his old life of sin, while the new birth, or regeneration, is the work of the Holy Spirit acting upon man simultaneously with his turning. Neither phase of the experience can be a reality without the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit cannot do His work until a man is willing to let God take hold of his life (see Rev. 3:20).

 Gr. metanoeō, “to change the mind,” and in a spiritual sense, “to repent” (see on Matt. 3:2). This call to repentance is the logical climax to Peter’s stern reproof of his challengers. There would be no point to such reproof if it were not intended to produce repentance. So it is, indeed, with all gospel preaching.