Acts 4:4

4:4 But many of those who had listened to ¹  the message ²  believed, and the number of the men ³  came to about five thousand.

Acts 4:29

4:29 And now, Lord, pay attention to ⁴  their threats, and grant ⁵  to your servants ⁶  to speak your message ⁷  with great courage, ⁸ 

Acts 4:31

4:31 When ⁹  they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, ¹⁰  and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak ¹¹  the word of God ¹²  courageously. ¹³ 

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¹ tn Or “had heard.”

² tn Or “word.”

³ tn In the historical setting it is likely that only men are referred to here. The Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr) usually refers to males or husbands rather than people in general. Thus to translate “of the people” would give a false impression of the number, since any women and children were apparently not included in the count.

⁴ tn Or “Lord, take notice of.”

⁵ sn Grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage. The request is not for a stop to persecution or revenge on the opponents, but for boldness (great courage) to carry out the mission of proclaiming the message of what God is doing through Jesus.

⁶ tn Grk “slaves.” See the note on the word “servants” in 2:18.

⁷ tn Grk “word.”

⁸ tn Or “with all boldness.”

⁹ tn Grk “And when.” 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.

¹⁰ sn The place where they were assembled…was shaken. This signifies that God is in their midst. See Acts 16:26; Exod 19:18; Ps 114:7; Isa 6:4.

¹¹ tn The imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to speak”). Logical sequencing suggests that their speaking began after they were filled with the Spirit. The prayer was answered immediately.

¹² tn Or “speak God’s message.”

¹³ tn Or “with boldness.”