Acts 7:11

7:11 Then a famine occurred throughout ¹  Egypt and Canaan, causing ²  great suffering, and our ³  ancestors ⁴  could not find food.

Acts 7:46

7:46 He ⁵  found favor ⁶  with ⁷  God and asked that he could ⁸  find a dwelling place ⁹  for the house ¹⁰  of Jacob.

Acts 9:18

9:18 Immediately ¹¹  something like scales ¹²  fell from his eyes, and he could see again. He ¹³  got up and was baptized,

Acts 14:8

Paul and Barnabas at Lystra

14:8 In ¹⁴  Lystra ¹⁵  sat a man who could not use his feet, ¹⁶  lame from birth, ¹⁷  who had never walked.

Acts 21:14

21:14 Because he could not be persuaded, ¹⁸  we said no more except, ¹⁹  “The Lord’s will be done.” ²⁰ 

Acts 26:32

26:32 Agrippa ²¹  said to Festus, ²²  “This man could have been released ²³  if he had not appealed to Caesar.” ²⁴ 

---

¹ tn Grk “came upon all Egypt.”

² tn Grk “and,” but logically causal.

³ sn Our. Stephen spoke of “our” ancestors (Grk “fathers”) in an inclusive sense throughout the speech until his rebuke in v. 51, where the nation does what “your” ancestors did, at which point an exclusive pronoun is used. This serves to emphasize the rebuke.

⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

⁵ tn Grk “David, who” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.

⁶ tn Or “grace.”

⁷ tn Grk “before,” “in the presence of.”

⁸ tn The words “that he could” are not in the Greek text, but are implied as the (understood) subject of the infinitive εὑρεῖν (Jeurein). This understands David’s request as asking that he might find the dwelling place. The other possibility would be to supply “that God” as the subject of the infinitive: “and asked that God find a dwelling place.” Unfortunately this problem is complicated by the extremely difficult problem with the Greek text in the following phrase (“house of Jacob” vs. “God of Jacob”).

⁹ tn On this term see BDAG 929 s.v. σκήνωμα a (Ps 132:5).

¹⁰ tc Some mss read θεῷ (qew, “God”) here, a variant much easier to understand in the context. The reading “God” is supported by א² A C E Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat sy co. The more difficult οἴκῳ (oikw, “house”) is supported by Ì⁷⁴ א* B D H 049 pc. Thus the second reading is preferred both externally because of better ms evidence and internally because it is hard to see how a copyist finding the reading “God” would change it to “house,” while it is easy to see how (given the LXX of Ps 132:5) a copyist might assimilate the reading and change “house” to “God.” However, some scholars think the reading “house” is so difficult as to be unacceptable. Others (like Lachmann and Hort) resorted to conjectural emendation at this point. Others (Ropes) sought an answer in an underlying Aramaic expression. Not everyone thinks the reading “house” is too difficult to be accepted as original (see Lake and Cadbury). A. F. J. Klijn, “Stephen’s Speech – Acts vii.2-53,” NTS 4 (1957): 25-31, compared the idea of a “house within the house of Israel” with the Manual of Discipline from Qumran, a possible parallel that seems to support the reading “house” as authentic. (For the more detailed discussion from which this note was derived, see TCGNT 308-9.)

¹¹ tn Grk “And immediately.” 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.

¹² tn The comparison to “scales” suggests a crusty covering which peeled away (cf. BDAG 592 s.v. λεπίς 2).

¹³ 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 was started, with “and” placed before the final element of the previous clause as required by English style.

¹⁴ tn Grk “And in.” 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.

¹⁵ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) south of Iconium.

map For location see JP1-E2; JP2-E2; JP3-E2.

¹⁶ tn Grk “powerless in his feet,” meaning he was unable to use his feet to walk.

¹⁷ tn Grk “lame from his mother’s womb” (an idiom).

sn The description lame from birth makes clear how serious the condition was, and how real it was. This event is very similar to Acts 3:1-10, except here the lame man’s faith is clear from the start.

¹⁸ tn The participle πειθομένου (peiqomenou) in this genitive absolute construction has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

¹⁹ tn Grk “we became silent, saying.”

²⁰ sn “The Lord’s will be done.” Since no one knew exactly what would happen, the matter was left in the Lord’s hands.

²¹ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

²² sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

²³ tn Or “set free.”

²⁴ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

sn If he had not appealed to Caesar. Ultimately Agrippa and Festus blamed what Paul himself had done in appealing to Caesar for his own continued custody. In terms of Luke’s narrative, this still appears unjust and a denial of responsibility.