Acts 9:39

9:39 So Peter got up and went with them, and ¹  when he arrived ²  they brought him to the upper room. All ³  the widows stood beside him, crying and showing him ⁴  the tunics ⁵  and other clothing ⁶  Dorcas used to make ⁷  while she was with them.

Acts 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ⁸  and Stoic ⁹  philosophers were conversing ¹⁰  with him, and some were asking, ¹¹  “What does this foolish babbler ¹²  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ¹³  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ¹⁴ 

Acts 26:10

26:10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received ¹⁵  from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote ¹⁶  against them when they were sentenced to death. ¹⁷ 

Acts 28:17

Paul Addresses the Jewish Community in Rome

28:17 After three days ¹⁸  Paul ¹⁹  called the local Jewish leaders ²⁰  together. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, ²¹  although I had done ²²  nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, ²³  from Jerusalem ²⁴  I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans. ²⁵ 

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¹ tn Grk “who.” The relative clause makes for awkward English style here, so the following clause was made coordinate with the conjunction “and” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun.

² tn The participle παραγενόμενον (paragenomenon) is taken temporally.

³ tn Grk “and all.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

⁴ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

⁵ tn Or “shirts” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

⁶ tn Grk “and garments,” referring here to other types of clothing besides the tunics just mentioned.

⁷ tn The verb ἐποίει (epoiei) has been translated as a customary imperfect.

⁸ sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

⁹ sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

¹⁰ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

¹¹ tn Grk “saying.”

¹² tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

¹³ tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

¹⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

¹⁵ tn Grk “by receiving authority.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been taken instrumentally.

¹⁶ tn Grk “cast down a pebble against them.” L&N 30.103 states, “(an idiom, Grk ‘to bring a pebble against someone,’ a reference to a white or black pebble used in voting for or against someone) to make known one’s choice against someone – ‘to vote against.’ …‘when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them’ Ac 26:10.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “when they were being executed”; but the context supports the sentencing rather than the execution itself (cf. L&N 30.103).

¹⁸ tn Grk “It happened that after three days.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

¹⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁰ tn L&N 33.309 has “‘after three days, he called the local Jewish leaders together’ Ac 28:17.”

²¹ tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

²² tn The participle ποιήσας (poihsas) has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

²³ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

sn I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors. Once again Paul claimed to be faithful to the Jewish people and to the God of Israel.

²⁴ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²⁵ tn Grk “into the hands of the Romans,” but this is redundant when παρεδόθην (paredoqhn) has been translated “handed over.”