Acts 2:19

2:19 And I will perform wonders in the sky ¹  above

and miraculous signs ²  on the earth below,

blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

Acts 8:33

8:33 In humiliation ³  justice was taken from him. ⁴ 

Who can describe his posterity? ⁵ 

For his life was taken away ⁶  from the earth.” ⁷ 

Acts 10:11

10:11 He ⁸  saw heaven ⁹  opened ¹⁰  and an object something like a large sheet ¹¹  descending, ¹²  being let down to earth ¹³  by its four corners.

Acts 11:6

11:6 As I stared ¹⁴  I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, ¹⁵  and wild birds. ¹⁶ 

Acts 17:24

17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, ¹⁷  who is ¹⁸  Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, ¹⁹ 

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¹ tn Or “in the heaven.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context. Here, in contrast to “the earth below,” a reference to the sky is more likely.

² tn Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned; this is made explicit in the translation.

³ 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.

⁴ tn Or “justice was denied him”; Grk “his justice was taken away.”

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn Grk “is taken away.” The present tense here was translated as a past tense to maintain consistency with the rest of the quotation.

⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 53:7-8.

⁸ tn Grk “And he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

⁹ tn Or “the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

¹⁰ tn On the heavens “opening,” see Matt 3:16; Luke 3:21; Rev 19:11 (cf. BDAG 84 s.v. ἀνοίγω 2). This is the language of a vision or a revelatory act of God.

¹¹ tn Or “a large linen cloth” (the term was used for the sail of a ship; BDAG 693 s.v. ὀθόνη).

¹² tn Or “coming down.”

¹³ tn Or “to the ground.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “Staring I looked into it.” The participle ἀτενίσας (atenisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹⁵ tn Or “snakes.” Grk “creeping things.” According to L&N 4.51, in most biblical contexts the term (due to the influence of Hebrew classifications such as Gen 1:25-26, 30) included small four-footed animals like rats, mice, frogs, toads, salamanders, and lizards. In this context, however, where “creeping things” are contrasted with “four-footed animals,” the English word “reptiles,” which primarily but not exclusively designates snakes, is probably more appropriate.

¹⁶ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

¹⁷ tn Grk “all the things that are in it.” The speech starts with God as Creator, like 14:15.

¹⁸ tn Or “because he is.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) could be either adjectival, modifying οὗτος (Joutos, “who is Lord…”) or adverbial of cause (“because he is Lord…”). Since the participle διδούς (didou") in v. 25 appears to be clearly causal in force, it is preferable to understand ὑπάρχων as adjectival in this context.

¹⁹ sn On the statement does not live in temples made by human hands compare Acts 7:48. This has implications for idols as well. God cannot be represented by them or, as the following clause also suggests, served by human hands.