Discovery BoxActs 1:2-12 
Context1:2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, 1 after he had given orders 2 by 3 the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 1:3 To the same apostles 4 also, after his suffering, 5 he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a forty-day period 6 and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God. 1:4 While he was with them, 7 he declared, 8 “Do not leave Jerusalem, 9 but wait there 10 for what my 11 Father promised, 12 which you heard about from me. 13 1:5 For 14 John baptized with water, but you 15 will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
1:6 So when they had gathered together, they began to ask him, 16 “Lord, is this the time when you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 1:7 He told them, “You are not permitted to know 17 the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts 18 of the earth.” 1:9 After 19 he had said this, while they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud hid him from their sight. 1:10 As 20 they were still staring into the sky while he was going, suddenly 21 two men in white clothing stood near them 1:11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here 22 looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven 23 will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”
1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem 24 from the mountain 25 called the Mount of Olives 26 (which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey 27 away).
1 tn The words “to heaven” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied from v. 11. Several modern translations (NIV, NRSV) supply the words “to heaven” after “taken up” to specify the destination explicitly mentioned later in 1:11.
2 tn Or “commands.” Although some modern translations render ἐντειλάμενος (enteilameno") as “instructions” (NIV, NRSV), the word implies authority or official sanction (G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:545), so that a word like “orders” conveys the idea more effectively. The action of the temporal participle is antecedent (prior) to the action of the verb it modifies (“taken up”).
3 tn Or “through.”
4 tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 sn After his suffering is a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion and the abuse which preceded it.
6 tn Grk “during forty days.” The phrase “over a forty-day period” is used rather than “during forty days” because (as the other NT accounts of Jesus’ appearances make clear) Jesus was not continually visible to the apostles during the forty days, but appeared to them on various occasions.
7 tn Or “While he was assembling with them,” or “while he was sharing a meal with them.” There are three basic options for translating the verb συναλίζω (sunalizw): (1) “Eat (salt) with, share a meal with”; (2) “bring together, assemble”; (3) “spend the night with, stay with” (see BDAG 964 s.v.). The difficulty with the first option is that it does not fit the context, and this meaning is not found elsewhere. The second option is difficult because of the singular number and the present tense. The third option is based on a spelling variation of συναυλιζόμενος (sunaulizomeno"), which some minuscules actually read here. The difference in meaning between (2) and (3) is not great, but (3) seems to fit the context somewhat better here.
8 tn Grk “ordered them”; the command “Do not leave” is not in Greek but is an indirect quotation in the original (see note at end of the verse for explanation).
9 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
10 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text (direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context).
11 tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
12 tn Grk “for the promise of the Father.” Jesus is referring to the promised gift of the Holy Spirit (see the following verse).
13 tn Grk “While he was with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for ‘what my Father promised, which you heard about from me.’” This verse moves from indirect to direct discourse. This abrupt change is very awkward, so the entire quotation has been rendered as direct discourse in the translation.
14 tn In the Greek text v. 5 is a continuation of the previous sentence, which is long and complicated. In keeping with the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
15 tn The pronoun is plural in Greek.
16 tn Grk “they began to ask him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. The imperfect tense of the Greek verb ἠρώτων (hrwtwn) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
17 tn Grk “It is not for you to know.”
18 tn Or “to the ends.”
19 tn Grk “And after.” 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.
20 tn Grk “And as.” 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.
21 tn Grk “behold.”
22 tn The word “here” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
23 tc Codex Bezae (D) and several other witnesses lack the words εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν (ei" ton ouranon, “into heaven”) here, most likely by way of accidental deletion. In any event, it is hardly correct to suppose that the Western text has intentionally suppressed references to the ascension of Christ here, for the phrase is solidly attested in the final clause of the verse.
tn Or “into the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” (vv. 10, 11a) or “heaven” (twice in v. 11b) depending on the context.
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 Or “from the hill.” The Greek term ὄρος (oros) refers to a relatively high elevation of land in contrast with βουνός (bounos, “hill”).
26 sn The Mount of Olives is the traditional name for this mountain, also called Olivet. The Mount of Olives is really a ridge running north to south about 1.8 mi (3 km) long, east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Its central elevation is about 100 ft (30 m) higher than Jerusalem. It was named for the large number of olive trees which grew on it.
27 sn The phrase a Sabbath day’s journey refers to the distance the rabbis permitted a person to travel on the Sabbath without breaking the Sabbath, specified in tractate Sotah 5:3 of the Mishnah as 2,000 cubits (a cubit was about 18 inches). In this case the distance was about half a mile (1 km).
