Acts 2:17

2:17 ‘And in the last days ¹  it will be,’ God says,

‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people, ² 

and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,

and your young men will see visions,

and your old men will dream dreams.

Acts 22:5

22:5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders ³  can testify about me. From them ⁴  I also received ⁵  letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way ⁶  to make arrests there and bring ⁷  the prisoners ⁸  to Jerusalem ⁹  to be punished.

Acts 26:10

26:10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received ¹⁰  from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote ¹¹  against them when they were sentenced to death. ¹² 

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¹ sn The phrase in the last days is not quoted from Joel, but represents Peter’s interpretive explanation of the current events as falling “in the last days.”

² tn Grk “on all flesh.”

³ tn That is, the whole Sanhedrin. BDAG 861 s.v. πρεσβυτέριον has “an administrative group concerned with the interests of a specific community, council of elders – a. of the highest Judean council in Jerusalem, in our lit. usu. called συνέδριον…ὁ ἀρχιερεύς καὶ πᾶν τὸ πρ. Ac 22:5.”

⁴ tn Grk “from whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

⁵ tn Grk “receiving.” The participle δεξάμενος (dexameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁶ tn Grk “letters to the brothers, [and] I was going to Damascus.” Such a translation, however, might be confusing since the term “brother” is frequently used of a fellow Christian. In this context, Paul is speaking about fellow Jews.

⁷ tn Grk “even there and bring…” or “there and even bring…” The ascensive καί (kai) shows that Paul was fervent in his zeal against Christians, but it is difficult to translate for it really belongs with the entire idea of arresting and bringing back the prisoners.

⁸ tn BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b has “δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά bring someone as prisoner…Ac 9:2, 21; 22:5.”

⁹ tn Grk “I was going…to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners that they might be punished.”

map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁰ tn Grk “by receiving authority.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been taken instrumentally.

¹¹ tn Grk “cast down a pebble against them.” L&N 30.103 states, “(an idiom, Grk ‘to bring a pebble against someone,’ a reference to a white or black pebble used in voting for or against someone) to make known one’s choice against someone – ‘to vote against.’ …‘when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them’ Ac 26:10.”

¹² tn Grk “when they were being executed”; but the context supports the sentencing rather than the execution itself (cf. L&N 30.103).