¹ tn Or “produced,” Grk “made.”

² tn Or “first.” The translation “former” is preferred because “first” could imply to the modern English reader that the author means that his previous account was the first one to be written down. The Greek term πρῶτος (prwtos) does not necessarily mean “first” in an absolute sense, but can refer to the first in a set or series. That is what is intended here – the first account (known as the Gospel of Luke) as compared to the second one (known as Acts).

³ tn The Greek word λόγος (logos) is sometimes translated “book” (NRSV, NIV) or “treatise” (KJV). A formal, systematic treatment of a subject is implied, but the word “book” may be too specific and slightly misleading to the modern reader, so “account” has been used.

sn The former account refers to the Gospel of Luke, which was “volume one” of the two-volume work Luke-Acts.

⁴ tn Grk “O Theophilus,” but the usage of the vocative in Acts with ὦ (w) is unemphatic, following more the classical idiom (see ExSyn 69).

⁵ tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

⁶ tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

⁷ tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.

⁸ tn Or “But arise.”

⁹ tn Literally a passive construction, “it will be told to you.” This has been converted to another form of passive construction in the translation.

¹⁰ tn Grk “But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying.” The dative phrase μεγάλῃ φωνῇ (megalh fwnh) has been simplified as an English adverb (“loudly”), and the participle λέγων (legwn) has not been translated since it is redundant in English.

¹¹ sn Do not harm yourself. Again the irony is that Paul is the agent through whom the jailer is spared.

¹² tn Grk “And bringing them outside, he asked.” The participle προαγαγών (proagagwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun by supplying the conjunction “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

¹³ tn The Greek term (δεῖ, dei) is used by Luke to represent divine necessity.

¹⁴ tn Grk “these things.”

¹⁵ tn The genitive absolute construction with the participle ὄντων (ontwn) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle. On the term translated “indisputable” see BDAG 68-69 s.v. ἀναντίρρητος which has “not to be contradicted, undeniable.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “it is necessary that you be quiet.”

¹⁷ tn L&N 88.98 has “pertaining to impetuous and reckless behavior – ‘reckless, impetuous.’…‘so then, you must calm down and not do anything reckless’ Ac 19:36.” The city secretary was asking that order be restored.

¹⁸ tn L&N 71.16 has “pertaining to being in every respect certain – ‘certainly, really, doubtless, no doubt.’…‘they will no doubt hear that you have come’ Ac 21:22.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “do this that.”

²⁰ tn Grk “There are four men here.”

²¹ tn L&N 33.469 has “‘there are four men here who have taken a vow’ or ‘we have four men who…’ Ac 21:23.”

²² tn On the term for “vow,” see BDAG 416 s.v. εὐχή 2.

²³ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

²⁴ tn L&N 33.393 has for λοιδορέω (loidorew) “to speak in a highly insulting manner – ‘to slander, to insult strongly, slander, insult.’”

sn Insult God’s high priest. Paul was close to violation of the Mosaic law with his response, as the citation from Exod 22:28 in v. 5 makes clear.

²⁵ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate that the second person pronoun (“you”) is plural (others in addition to King Agrippa are being addressed).

²⁶ tn BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 3 states, “τί ἄπιστον κρίνεται παρ᾿ ὑμῖν; why do you think it is incredible? Ac 26:8.” The passive construction (“why is it thought unbelievable…”) has been converted to an active one to simplify the translation.

²⁷ tn Or “incredible.” BDAG 103 s.v. ἄπιστος 1 states, “unbelievable, incredible…τί ἄπιστον κρίνεται παρ᾿ ὑμῖν…; why does it seem incredible to you? Ac 26:8.”

²⁸ tn Grk “if.” The first-class conditional construction, which assumes reality for the sake of argument, has been translated as indirect discourse.

²⁹ sn “Do you believe the prophets?” Note how Paul made the issue believing the OT prophets and God’s promise which God fulfilled in Christ. He was pushing King Agrippa toward a decision not for or against Paul’s guilt of any crime, but concerning Paul’s message.

³⁰ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.