The Greek word ekstasis literally means a displacement of mind — being 'beside oneself' with amazement, or entering a trance-like state. It comes from existemi (G1839), meaning to stand outside oneself. The word describes both the overwhelming human response to God's miraculous works and the ecstatic state in which divine visions are received.
Ekstasis appears at critical moments of divine revelation and miraculous action in the New Testament. Peter falls into an ekstasis at Joppa and receives the vision of the sheet (Acts 10:10; 11:5) — the moment that breaks open the gospel to the Gentiles. The resurrection witnesses experience ekstasis — trembling astonishment at the empty tomb (Mark 16:8). Paul falls into an ekstasis in the temple when Christ appears to him (Acts 22:17). This word captures the human response to irruptions of the divine: the rational mind is overwhelmed, normal categories fail, and the person is temporarily suspended in wonder. True encounters with the living God produce ekstasis — they cannot be processed as merely ordinary events.