Acts 3:2

3:2 And a man lame from birth was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called “the Beautiful Gate” every day so he could beg for money from those going into the temple courts.

Acts 4:21

4:21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising God for what had happened.

Acts 9:2

9:2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 10 

Acts 10:17

10:17 Now while Peter was puzzling over 11  what the vision he had seen could signify, the men sent by Cornelius had learned where Simon’s house was 12  and approached 13  the gate.

Acts 25:20-21

25:20 Because I was at a loss 14  how I could investigate these matters, 15  I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried 16  there on these charges. 17  25:21 But when Paul appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of His Majesty the Emperor, 18  I ordered him to be kept under guard until I could send him to Caesar.” 19 

Acts 26:29

26:29 Paul replied, “I pray to God that whether in a short or a long time 20  not only you but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains.” 21 

Acts 27:3

27:3 The next day we put in 22  at Sidon, 23  and Julius, treating Paul kindly, 24  allowed him to go to his friends so they could provide him with what he needed. 25 

Acts 27:41

27:41 But they encountered a patch of crosscurrents 26  and ran the ship aground; the bow stuck fast and could not be moved, but the stern was being broken up by the force 27  of the waves.

Acts 27:43

27:43 But the centurion, 28  wanting to save Paul’s life, 29  prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land, 30 

tn Or “crippled.”

tn Grk “from his mother’s womb.”

tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.

tn Grk “alms.” The term “alms” is not in common use today, so what the man expected, “money,” is used in the translation instead. The idea is that of money given as a gift to someone who was poor. Giving alms was viewed as honorable in Judaism (Tob 1:3, 16; 12:8-9; m. Pe’ah 1:1). See also Luke 11:41; 12:33; Acts 9:36; 10:2, 4, 31; 24:17.

tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

sn Into the temple courts. The exact location of this incident is debated. The ‘Beautiful Gate’ referred either to the Nicanor Gate (which led from the Court of the Gentiles into the Court of Women) or the Shushan Gate at the eastern wall.

tn Or “glorifying.”

sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

sn The expression “the way” in ancient religious literature refers at times to “the whole way of life fr. a moral and spiritual viewpoint” (BDAG 692 s.v. ὁδός 3.c), and it has been so used of Christianity and its teachings in the book of Acts (see also 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). It is a variation of Judaism’s idea of two ways, the true and the false, where “the Way” is the true one (1 En. 91:18; 2 En. 30:15).

tn Grk “bring them bound”; the translation “bring someone as prisoner” for δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά (dedemenon agein tina) is given by BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b.

10 sn From Damascus to Jerusalem was a six-day journey. Christianity had now expanded into Syria.

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

11 tn Or “was greatly confused over.” The term means to be perplexed or at a loss (BDAG 235 s.v. διαπορέω).

12 tn Grk “having learned.” The participle διερωτήσαντες (dierwthsante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

13 tn BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1 has “ἐπί τι approach or stand by someth. (Sir 41:24) Ac 10:17.”

sn As Peter puzzled over the meaning of the vision, the messengers from Cornelius approached the gate. God’s direction here had a sense of explanatory timing.

14 tn Or “Because I was undecided.” Grk “Being at a loss.” The participle ἀπορούμενος (aporoumeno") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

15 tn L&N 27.34 states, “ἀπορούμενος δὲ ἐγὼ τὴν περὶ τούτων ζήτησιν ‘I was undecided about how I could get information on these matters’ Ac 25:20. The clause ‘about how I could get information on these matters’ may also be rendered as ‘about how I should try to find out about these matters’ or ‘about how I could learn about these matters.’”

16 tn Or “stand trial.”

17 tn Grk “on these things.”

18 tn A designation of the Roman emperor (in this case, Nero). BDAG 917 s.v. σεβαστός states, “ὁ Σεβαστός His Majesty the Emperor Ac 25:21, 25 (of Nero).” It was a translation into Greek of the Latin “Augustus.”

19 tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

20 tn BDAG 703 s.v. ὀλίγος 2.b.β has “καὶ ἐν ὀλ. καὶ ἐν μεγάλῳ whether in a short or a long time vs. 29 (cf. B-D-F §195; GWhitaker, The Words of Agrippa to St. Paul: JTS 15, 1914, 82f; AFridrichsen, SymbOsl 14, ’35, 50; Field, Notes 141-43; s. Rob. 653).”

21 sn Except for these chains. The chains represented Paul’s unjust suffering for the sake of the message. His point was, in effect, “I do not care how long it takes. I only hope you and everyone else hearing this would become believers in Christ, but without my unjust suffering.”

22 tn BDAG 516 s.v. κατάγω states, “Hence the pass., in act. sense, of ships and seafarers put in εἴς τι at a harborεἰς Σιδῶνα Ac 27:3.”

23 sn Sidon is another seaport 75 mi (120 km) north of Caesarea.

map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

24 tn BDAG 1056 s.v. φιλανθρώπως states, “benevolently, kindly φιλανθρώπως χρῆσθαί (τινι) treat someone in kindly fashionAc 27:3.”

sn Treating Paul kindly. Paul’s treatment followed the pattern of the earlier imprisonment (cf. Acts 24:23).

25 tn Grk “to go to his friends to be cared for.” The scene is an indication of Christian hospitality.

26 tn Grk “fell upon a place of two seas.” The most common explanation for this term is that it refers to a reef or sandbar with the sea on both sides, as noted in BDAG 245 s.v. διθάλασσος: the “τόπος δ. Ac 27:41 is a semantic unit signifying a point (of land jutting out with water on both sides).” However, Greek had terms for a “sandbank” (θῖς [qis], ταινία [tainia]), a “reef” (ἑρμα [Jerma]), “strait” (στενόν [stenon]), “promontory” (ἀρωτήρον [arwthron]), and other nautical hazards, none of which are used by the author here. NEB here translates τόπον διθάλασσον (topon diqalasson) as “cross-currents,” a proposal close to that advanced by J. M. Gilchrist, “The Historicity of Paul’s Shipwreck,” JSNT 61 (1996): 29-51, who suggests the meaning is “a patch of cross-seas,” where the waves are set at an angle to the wind, a particular hazard for sailors. Thus the term most likely refers to some sort of adverse sea conditions rather than a topographical feature like a reef or sandbar.

27 tn Or “violence” (BDAG 175 s.v. βία a).

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

29 tn Or “wanting to rescue Paul.”

sn Thanks to the centurion who wanted to save Paul’s life, Paul was once more rescued from a potential human threat.

30 tn BDAG 347 s.v. I. ἔξειμι has “ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν get to land Ac 27:43.”