Hechos 1:12-13

The disciples returned to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit. The short trip from where Jesus ascended on Mt. Olivet to the upper room was only a Sabbath day’s journey away (about 2,000 cubits, two-thirds of a mile, one kilometer; cf. Exodus 16:29; Numbers 35:5). [Note: Mishnah Sotah 5:3.] This upper room may not have been the same one in which the disciples had observed the first Lord’s Supper with Jesus (Luke 22:12). Different Greek words describe the places. It may have been the place where He had appeared to them following His resurrection (Luke 24:32; Luke 24:36; John 20:19; John 20:26), but this too is unclear. The definite article "the" with "upper room" in the Greek text (to hyperoon) and the emphatic position of this phrase may suggest that Luke meant to identify a special upper room that the reader would know about from a previous reference to it. One writer suggested that this upper room, as well as the ones mentioned in Acts 9:37; Acts 9:39, and Acts 20:8, may have been part of a synagogue. [Note: Rainer Riesner, "Synagogues in Jerusalem," in The Book of Acts in Its First Century Setting; Vol. 4: The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting, p. 206.] The repetition of the apostles’ names recalls Jesus’ previous appointment of them as apostles (cf. Luke 6:13-16). [Note: See Margaret H. Williams, "Palestinian Jewish Personal Names in Acts," in ibid., pp. 79-113.] This list, however, omits Judas Iscariot and sets the stage for the selection of his replacement.