Acts 7:30

7:30 “After ¹  forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert ²  of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. ³ 

Acts 8:40

8:40 Philip, however, found himself ⁴  at Azotus, ⁵  and as he passed through the area, ⁶  he proclaimed the good news ⁷  to all the towns ⁸  until he came to Caesarea. ⁹ 

Acts 24:27

24:27 After two years ¹⁰  had passed, Porcius Festus ¹¹  succeeded Felix, ¹²  and because he wanted to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. ¹³ 

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¹ tn Grk “And after.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and contemporary English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

² tn Or “wilderness.”

³ sn An allusion to Exod 3:2.

⁴ tn Or “appeared.”

⁵ sn Azotus was a city on the coast of southern Palestine, known as Ashdod in OT times.

⁶ tn The words “the area” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

⁷ tn Or “he preached the gospel.”

⁸ tn Or “cities.”

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ tn Grk “After a two-year period.”

¹¹ sn Porcius Festus was the procurator of Palestine who succeeded Felix; neither the beginning nor the end of his rule (at his death) can be determined with certainty, although he appears to have died in office after about two years. Nero recalled Felix in a.d. 57 or 58, and Festus was appointed to his vacant office in a.d. 57, 58, or 59. According to Josephus (Ant. 20.8.9-10 [20.182-188]; J. W. 2.14.1 [2.271-272]), his administration was better than that of his predecessor Felix or his successor Albinus, but Luke in Acts portrays him in a less favorable light: He was willing to sacrifice Paul to court Jewish favor by taking him to Jerusalem for trial (v. 9), regardless of Paul’s guilt or innocence. The one characteristic for which Festus was noted is that he dealt harshly with those who disturbed the peace.

¹² tn Grk “Felix received as successor Porcius Festus.”

sn See the note on Felix in 23:26.

¹³ tn Grk “left Paul imprisoned.”

sn Felix left Paul in prison. Luke makes the point that politics got in the way of justice here; keeping Paul in prison was a political favor to the Jews.