Acts 2:21

2:21 And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Acts 7:59

7:59 They continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

Acts 9:5

9:5 So he said, “Who are you, Lord?” He replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting!

Acts 9:35

9:35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Acts 9:42

9:42 This became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 10 

Acts 10:14

10:14 But Peter said, “Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and ritually unclean!” 11 

Acts 13:49

13:49 So the word of the Lord was spreading 12  through the entire region.

Acts 15:26

15:26 who 13  have risked their lives 14  for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 

Acts 16:31

16:31 They replied, 16  “Believe 17  in the Lord Jesus 18  and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Acts 19:5

19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,

Acts 19:20

19:20 In this way the word of the Lord 19  continued to grow in power 20  and to prevail. 21 

Acts 20:21

20:21 testifying 22  to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. 23 

tn Grk “And it will be that.”

sn A quotation from Joel 2:28-32.

tn Grk “And they.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

sn Lydda was a city northwest of Jerusalem on the way to Joppa.

sn Sharon refers to the plain of Sharon, a region along the coast of Palestine.

tn Repetition of the pronoun “they” as subject of ἐπέστρεψαν (epestreyan) is not strictly necessary in English, but emphasizes slightly the resultative nature of the final clause: They turned to the Lord as a result of seeing Aeneas after he was healed.

sn They turned. To “turn” is a good summary term for the response to the gospel.

tn Or “known all over.” BDAG 511 s.v. κατά A.1.c. has “became known throughout all Joppa” for γνωστὸν γενέσθαι καθ᾿ ὅλης ᾿Ιόππης (gnwston genesqai kaq{olh" Iopph").

10 sn This became known…many believed in the Lord. This is a “sign” miracle that pictures how the Lord can give life.

11 tn Possibly there is a subtle distinction in meaning between κοινός (koinos) and ἀκάθαρτος (akaqarto") here, but according to L&N 53.39 it is difficult to determine precise differences in meaning based on existing contexts.

sn Peter insisted he would not violate the law by eating anything defiled and ritually unclean. These food laws were one of the practices that distinguished Jews from their Gentile neighbors. The practice made table fellowship with Gentiles awkward. For an example of Jewish attitudes to this, see Dan 1:8-16; 1 Macc 1:41-64; Letter of Aristeas 142; Tacitus, History 5.5.

12 tn BDAG 239 s.v. διαφέρω 1 has “spread” for διαφέρετο (diafereto) in connection with a teaching. This is the first summary since Acts 9:31.

13 tn Grk “men who”; but this can be misleading because in English the referent could be understood to be the men sent along with Barnabas and Paul rather than Barnabas and Paul themselves. This option does not exist in the Greek original, however, since ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is dative and must agree with “Barnabas and Paul,” while ἄνδρας (andra") is accusative. By omitting the word “men” from the translation here, it is clear in English that the phrase refers to the immediately preceding nouns “Barnabas and Paul.”

14 tn Grk “who have risked their souls”; the equivalent English idiom is “risk one’s life.” The descriptions commend Barnabas and Paul as thoroughly trustworthy.

15 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

16 tn Grk “said.”

17 sn Here the summary term of response is a call to believe. In this context it refers to trusting the sovereign God’s power to deliver, which events had just pictured for the jailer.

18 tc The majority of mss add Χριστόν (Criston, “Christ”) here (C D E Ψ 1739 Ï sy sa), but the best and earliest witnesses read simply τὸν κύριον ᾿Ιησοῦν (ton kurion Ihsoun, “the Lord Jesus”; Ì74vid א A B 33 81 pc bo). The addition of “Christ” to “Lord Jesus” is an obviously motivated reading. Thus on both external and internal grounds, the shorter reading is strongly preferred.

19 sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.

20 tn The imperfect verb ηὔξανεν (huxanen) has been translated as a progressive imperfect, as has the following verb ἴσχυεν (iscuen).

21 sn The word of the Lord…to prevail. Luke portrays the impact of Christianity in terms of the Lord’s transforming power in the lives of individuals.

22 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.”

23 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.