Acts 5:17

Further Trouble for the Apostles

5:17 Now the high priest rose up, and all those with him (that is, the religious party of the Sadducees ¹ ), ²  and they were filled with jealousy. ³ 

Acts 15:5

15:5 But some from the religious party of the Pharisees ⁴  who had believed stood up and said, “It is necessary ⁵  to circumcise the Gentiles ⁶  and to order them to observe ⁷  the law of Moses.”

Acts 23:9

23:9 There was a great commotion, ⁸  and some experts in the law ⁹  from the party of the Pharisees stood up ¹⁰  and protested strongly, ¹¹  “We find nothing wrong ¹²  with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

Acts 26:5

26:5 They know, ¹³  because they have known ¹⁴  me from time past, ¹⁵  if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party ¹⁶  of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. ¹⁷ 

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¹ sn See the note on Sadducees in 4:1.

² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

³ sn Filled with jealousy. In Acts, the term “jealousy” (ζήλος, zhlos) occurs only here and in Acts 13:45. It is a key term in Judaism for religiously motivated rage (1 Macc 2:24; 1QH 14:13-15; m. Sanhedrin 9:5). It was a zeal motivated by a desire to maintain the purity of the faith.

⁴ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

⁵ sn The Greek word used here (δεῖ, dei) is a strong term that expresses divine necessity. The claim is that God commanded the circumcision of Gentiles.

⁶ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the Gentiles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Or “keep.”

⁸ tn Or “clamor” (cf. BDAG 565 s.v. κραυγή 1.a, which has “there arose a loud outcry” here, and Exod 12:30).

⁹ tn Or “and some scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

¹⁰ tn Grk “standing up.” The participle ἀναστάντες (anastante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹¹ tn Grk “protested strongly, saying.” L&N 39.27 has “διαμάχομαι: to fight or contend with, involving severity and thoroughness – ‘to protest strongly, to contend with.’…‘some scribes from the party of the Pharisees protested strongly’ Ac 23:9.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

¹² sn “We find nothing wrong with this man.” Here is another declaration of innocence. These leaders recognized the possibility that Paul might have the right to make his claim.

¹³ tn These words are repeated from v. 4 (“all the Jews know”). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, it was necessary to begin a new sentence at the beginning of v. 5 in the translation, but for this to make sense, the main verb ἵσασι ({isasi) has to be repeated to connect with the ὅτι (Joti) clause (indirect discourse) in v. 5.

¹⁴ tn Grk “having known me from time past.” The participle προγινώσκοντες (proginwskonte") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

¹⁵ tn BDAG 866 s.v. προγινώσκω 2 has “Know from time past…προγινώσκοντές με ἄνωθεν Ac 26:5.” L&N 28.6 states, “‘they have already known me beforehand, if they are willing to testify’ Ac 26:5.”

¹⁶ tn That is, strictest religious party. “Party” alone is used in the translation because “the strictest religious party of our religion” would be redundant.

¹⁷ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.