Acts 1:22

1:22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day he ¹  was taken up from us – one of these must become a witness of his resurrection together with us.”

Acts 2:30

2:30 So then, because ²  he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants ³  on his throne, ⁴ 

Acts 7:14

7:14 So Joseph sent a message ⁵  and invited ⁶  his father Jacob and all his relatives to come, seventy-five people ⁷  in all.

Acts 8:33

8:33 In humiliation ⁸  justice was taken from him. ⁹ 

Who can describe his posterity? ¹⁰ 

For his life was taken away ¹¹  from the earth.” ¹² 

Acts 9:8

9:8 So Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open, ¹³  he could see nothing. ¹⁴  Leading him by the hand, his companions ¹⁵  brought him into Damascus.

Acts 13:36

13:36 For David, after he had served ¹⁶  God’s purpose in his own generation, died, ¹⁷  was buried with his ancestors, ¹⁸  and experienced ¹⁹  decay,

Acts 24:23

24:23 He ordered the centurion ²⁰  to guard Paul, ²¹  but to let him have some freedom, ²²  and not to prevent any of his friends ²³  from meeting his needs. ²⁴ 

Acts 26:1

Paul Offers His Defense

26:1 So Agrippa ²⁵  said to Paul, “You have permission ²⁶  to speak for yourself.” Then Paul held out his hand ²⁷  and began his defense: ²⁸ 

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¹ tn Here the pronoun “he” refers to Jesus.

² tn The participles ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) and εἰδώς (eidw") are translated as causal adverbial participles.

³ tn Grk “one from the fruit of his loins.” “Loins” is the traditional translation of ὀσφῦς (osfu"), referring to the male genital organs. A literal rendering like “one who came from his genital organs” would be regarded as too specific and perhaps even vulgar by many contemporary readers. Most modern translations thus render the phrase “one of his descendants.”

⁴ sn An allusion to Ps 132:11 and 2 Sam 7:12-13, the promise in the Davidic covenant.

⁵ tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

⁶ tn Or “Joseph had his father summoned” (BDAG 121 s.v. ἀποστέλλω 2.b).

⁷ tn Grk “souls” (here an idiom for the whole person).

⁸ tc ‡ Most later mss (C E Ψ 33^vid Ï sy) read “In his humiliation,” adding αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) after ταπεινώσει (tapeinwsei, “humiliation”), while the earlier and better witnesses lack the pronoun (so Ì⁷⁴ א A B 1739 pc lat). However, the LXX of Isa 53:8 also lacks the pronoun, supplying motivation for scribes to omit it here. At the same time, scribes would also be motivated to add the pronoun both for clarity’s sake (note the similar impulse that led to the addition of δέ [de] by many of the same mss at the beginning of the next line) and to give balance to the lines (the pronoun is indisputably used five other times in vv. 32-33 in quoting Isa 53). On balance, the shorter reading is preferred.

⁹ tn Or “justice was denied him”; Grk “his justice was taken away.”

¹⁰ tn Or “family; or “origin.” The meaning of γενεά (genea) in the quotation is uncertain; BDAG 192 s.v. γενεά 4 suggests “family history.”

sn The rhetorical question suggests the insensitivity of this generation for its act against God’s servant, who was slain unjustly as he was silent.

¹¹ tn Grk “is taken away.” The present tense here was translated as a past tense to maintain consistency with the rest of the quotation.

¹² sn A quotation from Isa 53:7-8.

¹³ tn Grk “his eyes being open,” a genitive absolute construction that has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

¹⁴ sn He could see nothing. This sign of blindness, which was temporary until v. 18, is like the sign of deafness experienced by Zechariah in Luke 1. It allowed some time for Saul (Paul) to reflect on what had happened without distractions.

¹⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Saul’s companions) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ tn The participle ὑπηρετήσας (Juphrethsa") is taken temporally.

¹⁷ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

¹⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “was gathered to his fathers” (a Semitic idiom).

¹⁹ tn Grk “saw,” but the literal translation of the phrase “saw decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “looked at decay,” while here “saw decay” is really figurative for “experienced decay.” This remark explains why David cannot fulfill the promise.

²⁰ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

²¹ tn Grk “that he was to be guarded.” The passive construction (τηρεῖσθαι, threisqai) has been converted to an active one in parallel with the following clauses, and the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²² tn BDAG 77 s.v. ἄνεσις 1 states, “lit. relaxation of custodial control, some liberty, ἀ. ἔχειν have some freedom Ac 24:23.”

²³ tn Grk “any of his own” (this could also refer to relatives).

²⁴ tn Grk “from serving him.”

²⁵ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

²⁶ tn Grk “It is permitted for you.”

²⁷ tn Or “extended his hand” (a speaker’s gesture).

²⁸ tn Or “and began to speak in his own defense.”