4:1 While Peter and John 1 were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander 2 of the temple guard 3 and the Sadducees 4 came up 5 to them,
9:32 Now 25 as Peter was traveling around from place to place, 26 he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda. 27
13:13 Then Paul and his companions put out to sea 34 from Paphos 35 and came to Perga 36 in Pamphylia, 37 but John 38 left them and returned to Jerusalem. 39
14:19 But Jews came from Antioch 40 and Iconium, 41 and after winning 42 the crowds over, they stoned 43 Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead.
15:1 Now some men came down from Judea 44 and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised 45 according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
23:12 When morning came, 89 the Jews formed 90 a conspiracy 91 and bound themselves with an oath 92 not to eat or drink anything 93 until they had killed Paul.
23:16 But when the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush, 94 he came and entered 95 the barracks 96 and told Paul.
24:1 After five days the high priest Ananias 97 came down with some elders and an attorney 98 named 99 Tertullus, and they 100 brought formal charges 101 against Paul to the governor.
27:39 When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed 105 a bay 106 with a beach, 107 where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.
1 tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Or “captain.”
3 tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.
sn The commander of the temple guard was the title of the officer commanding the Jewish soldiers responsible for guarding and keeping order in the temple courts in Jerusalem.
4 sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.
5 tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).
6 tn Or “had heard.”
7 tn Or “word.”
8 tn In the historical setting it is likely that only men are referred to here. The Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr) usually refers to males or husbands rather than people in general. Thus to translate “of the people” would give a false impression of the number, since any women and children were apparently not included in the count.
9 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
10 sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
11 tn Literally a relative pronoun, “who.” In English, however, a relative clause (“bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits, who were all being healed”) could be understood to refer only to the second group (meaning only those troubled by unclean spirits were being healed) or even that the unclean spirits were being healed. To avoid this ambiguity the pronoun “they” was used to begin a new English sentence.
12 sn They were all being healed. Note how the healings that the apostles provided were comprehensive in their consistency.
13 tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.
14 sn Obeying God (see v. 29), the apostles were teaching again (4:18-20; 5:20). They did so despite the risk.
15 tn Grk “And when.” 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.
16 tn “Hurt unfairly” conveys a better sense of the seriousness of the offense against the Israelite than “treated unfairly,” which can sometimes refer to slight offenses, or “wronged,” which can refer to offenses that do not involve personal violence, as this one probably did.
17 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 tn Or “he defended,” “he retaliated” (BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμύνομαι).
19 tn Or “appeared.”
20 sn Azotus was a city on the coast of southern Palestine, known as Ashdod in OT times.
21 tn The words “the area” are not in the Greek text but are implied.
22 tn Or “he preached the gospel.”
23 tn Or “cities.”
24 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1.
map For location see Map2-C1; Map4-B3; Map5-F2; Map7-A1; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
25 tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
26 tn Grk “As Peter was going through all [the places],” which is somewhat awkward in English. The meaning is best expressed by a phrase like “going around from place to place” or “traveling around from place to place.”
27 sn Lydda was a city northwest of Jerusalem on the way to Joppa. It was about 10.5 miles (17 km) southeast of Joppa.
28 tn Grk “at about the ninth hour of the day.” This would be the time for afternoon prayer.
29 tn Or “the angel of God.” Linguistically, “angel of God” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of God” or “the angel of God” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.
30 tn The participles εἰσελθόντα (eiselqonta) and εἰπόντα (eiponta) are accusative, and thus best taken as adjectival participles modifying ἄγγελον (angelon): “an angel who came in and said.”
31 tn Grk “Antioch, who when.” The relative pronoun was omitted and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.
32 tn BDAG 883 s.v. προσμένω 1.a.β has “remain true to the Lord” for προσμένειν (prosmenein) in this verse.
sn He…encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord. The call to faithfulness is frequent in Acts (2:40; 14:22; 15:32; 16:39; 20:1-2).
33 tn Grk “with purpose of heart”; BDAG 869 s.v. πρόθεσις 2.a translates this phrase “purpose of heart, i.e. devotion” here.
34 tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”
35 sn Paphos was a city on the southwestern coast of the island of Cyprus. See Acts 13:6.
36 sn Perga was a city in Pamphylia near the southern coast of Asia Minor. The journey from Paphos to Perga is about 105 mi (175 km).
37 sn Pamphylia was a province in the southern part of Asia Minor.
38 sn That is, John Mark.
39 sn Returned to Jerusalem. John Mark had originally accompanied them from Jerusalem (see Acts 12:25). John Mark’s decision to leave became an issue later for Barnabas and Paul (Acts 15:36-39).
map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
40 sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.
map For location see JP1-E2; JP2-E2; JP3-E2; JP4-E2.
41 sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra. Note how Jews from other cities were chasing Paul (2 Cor 11:4-6; Gal 2:4-5; Acts 9:16).
42 tn The participle πείσαντες (peisante") is taken temporally (BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.c).
43 tn Grk “stoning Paul they dragged him.” The participle λιθάσαντες (liqasante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
44 sn That is, they came down from Judea to Antioch in Syria.
45 tc Codex Bezae (D) and a few other witnesses have “and walk” here (i.e., instead of τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως [tw eqei tw Mwu>sew"] they read καὶ τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως περιπατῆτε [kai tw eqei tw Mwu>sew" peripathte]). This is a decidedly stronger focus on obedience to the Law. As well, D expands vv. 1-5 in various places with the overall effect of being “more sympathetic to the local tradition of the church at Jerusalem” while the Alexandrian witnesses are more sympathetic to Paul (TCGNT 377). Codex D is well known for having a significantly longer text in Acts, but modern scholarship is generally of the opinion that the text of D expands on the original wording of Acts, with a theological viewpoint that especially puts Peter in a more authoritarian light. The expansion in these five verses is in keeping with that motif even though Peter is not explicitly in view.
sn Unless you are circumcised. These teachers from Judea were teaching that Gentiles could not be saved unless they kept the law of Moses in regard to circumcision. Thus according to them a Gentile had first to become a proselyte to Judaism, including circumcision, before one could become a Christian. This party is sometimes known (collectively) as Judaizers. They did not question that Gentiles could come into the community, but disagreed with Paul and Barnabas on what basis they could do so.
46 tn BDAG 511 s.v. κατά B.1.b has “to Mysia” here.
47 sn Mysia was a province in northwest Asia Minor.
48 sn Bithynia was a province in northern Asia Minor northeast of Mysia.
49 tn Or “permit”; see BDAG 269 s.v. ἐάω 1.
50 tn The words “do this” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons, since English handles ellipses differently than Greek.
51 tn “Then” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to clarify the logical sequence in the translation.
52 sn Thessalonica was a city in Macedonia (modern Salonica).
53 tn Grk “that the word of God had also been proclaimed by Paul.” This passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation for stylistic reasons.
54 sn Berea (alternate spelling in NRSV Beroea; Greek Beroia) was a very old city in Macedonia on the river Astraeus about 45 mi (75 km) from Thessalonica.
55 tn BDAG 911 s.v. σαλεύω 2 has “incite” for σαλεύοντες (saleuonte") in Acts 17:13.
sn Inciting. Ironically, it was the Jews who were disturbing the peace, not the Christians.
56 tn Or “stirring up” (BDAG 990-91 s.v. ταράσσω 2). The point is the agitation of the crowds.
57 tn Or “laid.”
58 sn The coming of the Holy Spirit here is another case where the Spirit comes and prophesy results in Acts (see Acts 2). Paul’s action parallels that of Peter (Acts 8) and not just with Gentiles.
59 tn The imperfect verb ἐλάλουν (elaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
60 tn The imperfect verb ἐπροφήτευον (eprofhteuon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
61 map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.
62 tn Grk “fell on.” BDAG 377 s.v. ἐπιπίπτω 2 has “φόβος ἐ. ἐπί τινα fear came upon someone…Ac 19:17.”
63 tn Or “exalted.”
64 tn BDAG 633 s.v. μέρος 1.b.γ gives the meanings “the parts (of a geographical area), region, district,” but the use of “district” in this context probably implies too much specificity.
65 tn Grk “and encouraging them with many words.” The participle παρακαλέσας (parakalesa", “encouraging”) has been translated by the phrase “spoken…words of encouragement” because the formal equivalent is awkward in contemporary English.
66 tn Grk “[to] them”; the referent (the believers there) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
67 tn In popular usage the term translated “Greece” here could also refer to the Roman province officially known as Achaia (BDAG 318 s.v. ῾Ελλάς).
68 sn This marks the beginning of another “we” section in Acts. These have been traditionally understood to mean that Luke was in the company of Paul for this part of the journey.
69 map For location see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.
70 sn The days of Unleavened Bread refer to the week following Passover. Originally an agricultural festival commemorating the beginning of harvest, it was celebrated for seven days beginning on the fifteenth day of the month Nisan (March-April). It was later combined with Passover (Exod 12:1-20; Ezek 45:21-24; Matt 26:17; Luke 22:1).
71 tn BDAG 160 s.v. ἄχρι 1.a.α has “ἄ. ἡμερῶν πέντε within five days Ac 20:6.”
72 tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the others mentioned in v. 4) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
73 sn Troas was a port city (and surrounding region) on the northwest coast of Asia Minor. From Philippi to Troas was about 125 mi (200 km).
74 tn Grk “On the next day leaving, we came.” The participle ἐξελθόντες (exelqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
75 sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. This was another 40 mi (65 km).
map For location see Map2-C1; Map4-B3; Map5-F2; Map7-A1; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
76 tn Grk “and entering…we stayed.” The participle εἰσελθόντες (eiselqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
77 sn Philip was one of the seven deacons appointed in the Jerusalem church (Acts 6:1-7).
78 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
79 sn Paul had to be carried. Note how the arrest really ended up protecting Paul. The crowd is portrayed as irrational at this point.
80 tn This refers to mob violence (BDAG 175 s.v. βία b).
81 tn BDAG 106 s.v. ἀπό 5.a has “οὐκ ἐνέβλεπον ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τοῦ φωτός I could not see because of the brilliance of the light Ac 22:11.”
82 tn Or “brightness”; Grk “glory.”
83 tn Grk “by” (ὑπό, Jupo), but this would be too awkward in English following the previous “by.”
84 tn Grk “coming.” The participle ἐλθών (elqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
85 tn Grk “coming to me and standing beside [me] said to me.” The participle ἐπιστάς (epistas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
86 tn Grk “Brother Saul, look up” (here an idiom for regaining one’s sight). BDAG 59 s.v. ἀναβλέπω places this usage under 1, “look up Ac 22:13a. W. εἰς αὐτόν to show the direction of the glance…22:13b; but perh. this vs. belongs under 2a.” BDAG 59 s.v. 2.a.α states, “of blind persons, who were formerly able to see, regain sight.” The problem for the translator is deciding between the literal and the idiomatic usage and at the same time attempting to retain the wordplay in Acts 22:13: “[Ananias] said to me, ‘Look up!’ and at that very moment I looked up to him.” The assumption of the command is that the effort to look up will be worth it (through the regaining of sight).
87 tn Grk “hour,” but ὥρα (Jwra) is often used for indefinite short periods of time (so BDAG 1102-3 s.v. ὥρα 2.c: “αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ at that very time, at once, instantly…Lk 2:38, 24:33; Ac 16:18; 22:13”). A comparison with the account in Acts 9:18 indicates that this is clearly the meaning here.
88 tn Grk “I looked up to him.”
89 tn Grk “when it was day.”
90 tn Grk “forming a conspiracy, bound.” The participle ποιήσαντες (poihsantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
91 tn L&N 30.72 has ‘some Jews formed a conspiracy’ Ac 23:12”; BDAG 979 s.v. συστροφή 1 has “Judeans came together in a mob 23:12. But in the last pass. the word may also mean – 2. the product of a clandestine gathering, plot, conspiracy” (see also Amos 7:10; Ps 63:3).
92 tn Or “bound themselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone…pleonastically ἀναθέματι ἀ. ἑαυτόν Ac 23:14…ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.” On such oaths see m. Shevi’it 3:1-5. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
93 tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
94 tn Or “plot” (BDAG 334 s.v. ἐνέδρα).
95 tn Grk “coming and entering…, he told.” The participles παραγενόμενος (paragenomeno") and εἰσελθών (eiselqwn) have been translated as finite verbs due to requirements of contemporary English style.
96 tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”
97 sn Ananias was in office from
98 tn The term refers to a professional advocate (BDAG 905 s.v. ῥήτωρ).
99 tn Grk “an attorney, a certain Tertullus.”
100 tn Grk “who” (plural). Because in English the relative pronoun “who” could be understood to refer only to the attorney Tertullus and not to the entire group, it has been replaced with the third person plural pronoun “they.” “And” has been supplied to provide the connection to the preceding clause.
101 tn BDAG 326 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 3 has “ἐ. τινὶ κατά τινος bring formal charges against someone…Ac 24:1; 25:2.”
102 tn Grk “sailing along the coast…we came.” The participle παραλεγόμενοι (paralegomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. L&N 54.8, “παραλέγομαι: (a technical, nautical term) to sail along beside some object – ‘to sail along the coast, to sail along the shore.’ …‘they sailed along the coast of Crete’ Ac 27:13.”
103 tn Grk “it”; the referent (Crete) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
104 sn Lasea was a city on the southern coast of the island of Crete. This was about 60 mi (96 km) farther.
105 tn Or “observed,” “saw.”
106 tn Or “gulf” (BDAG 557 s.v. κόλπος 3).
107 sn A beach would refer to a smooth sandy beach suitable for landing.
108 tc A few early
109 sn Rhegium was a city on the southern tip of Italy. It was 80 mi (130 km) from Syracuse.
110 tn Grk “after one day, a south wind springing up, on the second day.” The genitive absolute construction with the participle ἐπιγενομένου (epigenomenou) has been translated as a clause with a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
111 sn Puteoli was a city on the western coast of Italy south of Rome. It was in the Bay of Naples some 220 mi (350 km) to the north of Rhegium. Here the voyage ended; the rest of the journey was by land.
112 tn Grk “where.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“where”) has been replaced with the demonstrative pronoun (“there”) and a new sentence begun here in the translation.
113 tn Grk “finding.” The participle εὑρόντες (Jeurontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
114 sn That is, some fellow Christians.
115 map For location see JP4-A1.