Acts 13:24
13:24 Before 1 Jesus 2 arrived, John 3 had proclaimed a baptism for repentance 4 to all the people of Israel.
Acts 20:21
20:21 testifying 5 to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. 6
1 tn Grk “John having already proclaimed before his coming a baptism…,” a genitive absolute construction which is awkward in English. A new sentence was begun in the translation at this point.
2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the context for clarity, since God is mentioned in the preceding context and John the Baptist in the following clause.
3 sn John refers here to John the Baptist.
4 tn Grk “a baptism of repentance”; the genitive has been translated as a genitive of purpose.
5 tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 1 has “testify of, bear witness to (orig. under oath)…of repentance to Judeans and Hellenes Ac 20:21.”
6 tc Several mss, including some of the more important ones (Ì74 א Α C [D] E 33 36 323 945 1175 1241 1505 1739 pm and a number of versions), read Χριστόν (Criston, “Christ”) at the end of this verse. This word is lacking in B H L P Ψ 614 pm. Although the inclusion is supported by many earlier and better mss, internal evidence is on the side of the omission: In Acts, both “Lord Jesus” and “Lord Jesus Christ” occur, though between 16:31 and the end of the book “Lord Jesus Christ” appears only in 28:31, perhaps as a kind of climactic assertion. Thus, the shorter reading is to be preferred.
sn Repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. Note the twofold description of the message. It is a turning to God involving faith in Jesus Christ.