Acts 7:42

7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over ¹  to worship the host ²  of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices ³  forty years in the wilderness, was it, ⁴  house of Israel?

Acts 16:18

16:18 She continued to do this for many days. But Paul became greatly annoyed, ⁵  and turned ⁶  and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ ⁷  to come out of her!” And it came out of her at once. ⁸ 

Acts 19:26

19:26 And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded ⁹  and turned away ¹⁰  a large crowd, ¹¹  not only in Ephesus ¹²  but in practically all of the province of Asia, ¹³  by saying ¹⁴  that gods made by hands are not gods at all. ¹⁵ 

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¹ sn The expression and gave them over suggests similarities to the judgment on the nations described by Paul in Rom 1:18-32.

² tn Or “stars.”

sn To worship the hosts of heaven. Their action violated Deut 4:19; 17:2-5. See Ps 106:36-43.

³ tn The two terms for sacrifices “semantically reinforce one another and are here combined essentially for emphasis” (L&N 53.20).

⁴ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question, “was it?”

⁵ tn Grk “becoming greatly annoyed.” The participle διαπονηθείς (diaponhqei") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. The aorist has been translated as an ingressive aorist (entry into a state or condition). See BDAG 235 s.v. διαπονέομαι.

⁶ tn Grk “and turning.” The participle ἐπιστρέψας (epistreya") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁷ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

⁸ tn BDAG 1102-3 s.v. ὥρα 2.c has “at that very time, at once, instantly” for the usage in this verse.

⁹ tn Grk “persuading.” The participle πείσας (peisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹⁰ tn Or “misled.”

¹¹ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.a has “of pers. ὄχλος a large crowd…Ac 11:24, 26; 19:26.”

¹² map For location see JP1-D2; JP2-D2; JP3-D2; JP4-D2.

¹³ tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 22.

¹⁴ tn The participle λέγων (legwn) has been regarded as indicating instrumentality.

¹⁵ tn The words “at all” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

sn Gods made by hands are not gods at all. Paul preached against paganism’s idolatry. Here is a one-line summary of a speech like that in Acts 17:22-31.