Acts 2:36

2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.”

Acts 4:17

4:17 But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.”

Acts 9:25

9:25 But his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall by lowering him in a basket.

Acts 10:11

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

Acts 24:23

24:23 He ordered the centurion 14  to guard Paul, 15  but to let him have some freedom, 16  and not to prevent any of his friends 17  from meeting his needs. 18 

Acts 25:5

25:5 “So,” he said, “let your leaders 19  go down there 20  with me, and if this man has done anything wrong, 21  they may bring charges 22  against him.”


tn Or “know for certain.” This term is in an emphatic position in the clause.

tn Grk “has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” The clause has been simplified in the translation by replacing the pronoun “him” with the explanatory clause “this Jesus whom you crucified” which comes at the end of the sentence.

sn Lord. This looks back to the quotation of Ps 110:1 and the mention of “calling on the Lord” in 2:21. Peter’s point is that the Lord on whom one calls for salvation is Jesus, because he is the one mediating God’s blessing of the Spirit as a sign of the presence of salvation and the last days.

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

sn See the note on Christ in 2:31.

tn Or “speak no longer.”

tn The opening in the wall is not specifically mentioned here, but the parallel account in 2 Cor 11:33 mentions a “window” or “opening” (θυρίς, quris) in the city wall through which Paul was lowered. One alternative to introducing mention of the opening is to translate Acts 9:25 “they let him down over the wall,” as suggested in L&N 7.61. This option is not employed by many translations, however, because for the English reader it creates an (apparent) contradiction between Acts 9:25 and 2 Cor 11:33. In reality the account here is simply more general, omitting the detail about the window.

tn On the term for “basket” used here, see BDAG 940 s.v. σπυρίς.

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.

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 sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

15 tn Grk “that he was to be guarded.” The passive construction (τηρεῖσθαι, threisqai) has been converted to an active one in parallel with the following clauses, and the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

16 tn BDAG 77 s.v. ἄνεσις 1 states, “lit. relaxation of custodial control, some liberty, . ἔχειν have some freedom Ac 24:23.”

17 tn Grk “any of his own” (this could also refer to relatives).

18 tn Grk “from serving him.”

19 tn Grk “let those who are influential among you” (i.e., the powerful).

20 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

21 tn Grk “and if there is anything wrong with this man,” but this could be misunderstood in English to mean a moral or physical defect, while the issue in context is the commission of some crime, something legally improper (BDAG 149 s.v. ἄτοπος 2).

22 tn BDAG 533 s.v. κατηγορέω 1 states, “nearly always as legal t.t.: bring charges in court.” L&N 33.427 states for κατηγορέω, “to bring serious charges or accusations against someone, with the possible connotation of a legal or court context – ‘to accuse, to bring charges.”