Acts 1:2

1:2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, ¹  after he had given orders ²  by ³  the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

Acts 9:15

9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument ⁴  to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. ⁵ 

Acts 10:41

10:41 not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had already chosen, ⁶  who ate and drank ⁷  with him after he rose from the dead.

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¹ tn The words “to heaven” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied from v. 11. Several modern translations (NIV, NRSV) supply the words “to heaven” after “taken up” to specify the destination explicitly mentioned later in 1:11.

² tn Or “commands.” Although some modern translations render ἐντειλάμενος (enteilameno") as “instructions” (NIV, NRSV), the word implies authority or official sanction (G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:545), so that a word like “orders” conveys the idea more effectively. The action of the temporal participle is antecedent (prior) to the action of the verb it modifies (“taken up”).

³ tn Or “through.”

⁴ tn Or “tool.”

⁵ tn Grk “the sons of Israel.” In Acts, Paul is a minister to all nations, including Israel (Rom 1:16-17).

⁶ tn Or “the witnesses God had previously chosen.” See Acts 1:8.

⁷ sn Ate and drank. See Luke 24:35-49.