Acts 15:3

15:3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia ¹  and Samaria, they were relating at length ²  the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy ³  to all the brothers.

Acts 15:8

15:8 And God, who knows the heart, ⁴  has testified ⁵  to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, ⁶ 

Acts 15:14

15:14 Simeon ⁷  has explained ⁸  how God first concerned himself ⁹  to select ¹⁰  from among the Gentiles ¹¹  a people for his name.

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¹ sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine in ancient Syria.

² tn L&N 33.201 indicates that ἐκδιηγέομαι (ekdihgeomai) means to provide detailed information in a systematic manner, “to inform, to relate, to tell fully.” “Relating at length” conveys this effectively in the present context.

³ tn For ἐποίουν (epoioun) in this verse BDAG 839 s.v. ποιέω 2.c has “they brought joy to the members.”

⁴ sn The expression who knows the heart means “who knows what people think.”

⁵ tn Or “has borne witness.”

⁶ sn By giving them…just as he did to us. The allusion is to the events of Acts 10-11, esp. 10:44-48 and Peter’s remarks in 11:15-18.

⁷ sn Simeon is a form of the apostle Peter’s Aramaic name. James uses Peter’s “Jewish” name here.

⁸ tn Or “reported,” “described.”

⁹ tn BDAG 378 s.v. ἐπισκέπτομαι 3 translates this phrase in Acts 15:14, “God concerned himself about winning a people fr. among the nations.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “to take,” but in the sense of selecting or choosing (accompanied by the preposition ἐκ [ek] plus a genitive specifying the group selected from) see Heb 5:1; also BDAG 584 s.v. λαμβάνω 6.

¹¹ sn In the Greek text the expression “from among the Gentiles” is in emphatic position.