Acts 6:13-14

6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ¹  and the law. ²  6:14 For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs ³  that Moses handed down to us.”

Acts 7:7

7:7 But I will punish ⁴  the nation they serve as slaves,’ said God, ‘and after these things they will come out of there ⁵  and worship ⁶  me in this place.’ ⁷ 

Acts 7:33

7:33 But the Lord said to him, ‘Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ⁸ 

Acts 9:12

9:12 and he has seen in a vision ⁹  a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he may see again.”

Acts 12:3

12:3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, ¹⁰  he proceeded to arrest Peter too. (This took place during the feast of Unleavened Bread.) ¹¹ 

Acts 15:28

15:28 For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us ¹²  not to place any greater burden on you than these necessary rules: ¹³ 

Acts 27:8

27:8 With difficulty we sailed along the coast ¹⁴  of Crete ¹⁵  and came to a place called Fair Havens that was near the town of Lasea. ¹⁶ 

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¹ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

² sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.

³ tn Or “practices.”

sn Will destroy this place and change the customs. Stephen appears to view the temple as a less central place in light of Christ’s work, an important challenge to Jewish religion, since it was at this time a temple-centered state and religion. Unlike Acts 3-4, the issue here is more than Jesus and his resurrection. Now the impact of his resurrection and the temple’s centrality has also become an issue. The “falseness” of the charge may not be that the witnesses were lying, but that they falsely read the truth of Stephen’s remarks.

⁴ tn BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α states, “Oft. the emphasis is unmistakably laid upon that which follows the Divine Judge’s verdict, upon the condemnation or punishment: condemn, punish …Ac 7:7 (Gen 15:14).”

⁵ tn The words “of there” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

sn A quotation from Gen 15:14.

⁶ tn Or “and serve,” but with religious/cultic overtones (BDAG 587 s.v. λατρεύω).

⁷ sn An allusion to Exod 3:12.

⁸ sn A quotation from Exod 3:5. The phrase holy ground points to the fact that God is not limited to a particular locale. The place where he is active in revealing himself is a holy place.

⁹ tc ‡ The words ἐν ὀράματι (en oramati, “in a vision”) are not found in some of the earliest and best mss (Ì⁷⁴ א A 81 pc lat sa bo), but are implied from the context. The phrase is included, although sometimes in a different order with ἄνδρα (andra, “man”) or omitting ἄνδρα altogether, by B C E Ψ 33 1175 1739 Ï. The order of words in NA²⁷, ἄνδρα ἐν ὁράματι, is supported only by B C 1175. Generally speaking, when there are three or more variants, with one an omission and the others involving rearrangements, the longer readings are later scribal additions. Further, the reading looks like a clarifying note, for an earlier vision is explicitly mentioned in v. 10. On the other hand, it is possible that some scribes deleted the words because of perceived repetition, though this is unlikely since it is a different vision two verses back. It is also possible that some scribes could have confused ὁράματι with ὀνόματι (onomati, “name”); TCGNT 319 notes that several mss place ονόματι before ᾿Ανανίαν (Ananian, “Ananias”) while a few others drop ὀνόματι altogether. The Sahidic mss are among those that drop the word, however, and they also lack ἐν ὁράματι; all that is left is one version and father that drops ὀνόματι. Perhaps the best argument for the authenticity of the phrase is that B C 1175 preserve a rare, distinctively Lukan word order, but this is not nearly as harsh or unusual as what Luke does elsewhere. A decision is difficult in this case, but on balance the omission of the phrase seems to be authentic. The words are nevertheless added in the translation because of contextual considerations. NA²⁷ places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

sn Apparently while in Damascus Paul had a subsequent vision in the midst of his blindness, fulfilling the prediction in 9:6.

¹⁰ tn This could be a reference to the Jewish people (so CEV) or to the Jewish leaders (so NLT). The statement in v. 4 that Herod intended to bring Peter “out to the people” (i.e., for a public trial) may suggest the former is somewhat more likely.

¹¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

¹² tn This is the same expression translated “decided” in Acts 15:22, 25. BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.b.β lists “decide” as a possible gloss for this verse, and this translation would be consistent with the translation of the same expression in Acts 15:22, 25. However, the unusually awkward “the Holy Spirit and we have decided” would result. Given this approach, it would be more natural in English to say “We and the Holy Spirit have decided,” but changing the order removes the emphasis the Greek text gives to the Holy Spirit. Thus, although the similarity to the phrases in 15:22, 25 is obscured, it is better to use the alternate translation “it seems best to me” (also given by BDAG): “it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us.” Again the scope of agreement is highlighted.

¹³ tn L&N 71.39 translates “indispensable (rules)” while BDAG 358 s.v. ἐπάναγκες has “the necessary things.”

¹⁴ 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.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “it”; the referent (Crete) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ sn Lasea was a city on the southern coast of the island of Crete. This was about 60 mi (96 km) farther.