Acts 10:2

10:2 He ¹  was a devout, God-fearing man, ²  as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people ³  and prayed to God regularly.

Acts 10:4

10:4 Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius ⁴  replied, ⁵  “What is it, Lord?” The angel ⁶  said to him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity ⁷  have gone up as a memorial ⁸  before God.

Acts 10:31

10:31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your acts of charity ⁹  have been remembered before God. ¹⁰ 

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¹ tn In the Greek text this represents a continuation of the previous sentence. Because of the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

² sn The description of Cornelius as a devout, God-fearing man probably means that he belonged to the category called “God-fearers,” Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 43-44, and Sir 11:17; 27:11; 39:27.

³ tn Or “gave many gifts to the poor.” This was known as “giving alms,” or acts of mercy (Sir 7:10; BDAG 315-16 s.v. ἐλεημοσύνη).

⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Cornelius) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Grk “said,” but in response to the angel’s address, “replied” is better English style.

⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Or “your gifts to the needy.”

⁸ sn The language used in the expression gone up as a memorial before God parallels what one would say of acceptable sacrifices (Ps 141:2; Sir 35:6; 50:16).

⁹ tn Or “your gifts to the needy.”

¹⁰ sn This statement is a paraphrase rather than an exact quotation of Acts 10:4.