¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the continuity with the preceding verse. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.

² tn Grk “and the lot fell on Matthias.”

³ tn Or “he was counted as one of the apostles along with the eleven.”

⁴ tn Or “fear came on,” “fear seized”; Grk “fear happened to.”

⁵ tn Or possibly “food,” since in a number of extrabiblical contexts the phrase σιτία καὶ ποτά (sitia kai pota) means “food and drink,” where solid food is contrasted with liquid nourishment (L&N 3.42).

⁶ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

⁷ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

⁸ tn Or “exposed” (see v. 19).

⁹ tn Grk “Pharaoh’s daughter took him up for herself.” According to BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω, “The pap. exx. involve exposed children taken up and reared as slaves…The rendering ‘adopt’ lacks philological precision and can be used only in a loose sense (as NRSV), esp. when Gr-Rom. terminology relating to adoption procedures is taken into account.” In this instance both the immediate context and the OT account (Exod 2:3-10) do support the normal sense of the English word “adopt,” although it should not be understood to refer to a technical, legal event.

¹⁰ tn Or “and reared him” (BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b).

¹¹ tn Grk “heart.”

¹² tn Grk “brothers.” The translation “compatriot” is given by BDAG 18-19 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.b.

¹³ tn Grk “the sons of Israel.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “his brothers.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “was granting them deliverance.” The narrator explains that this act pictured what Moses could do for his people.

¹⁶ tn Grk “by his hand,” where the hand is a metaphor for the entire person.

¹⁷ sn They did not understand. Here is the theme of the speech. The people did not understand what God was doing through those he chose. They made the same mistake with Joseph at first. See Acts 3:17; 13:27. There is good precedent for this kind of challenging review of history in the ancient scriptures: Ps 106:6-46; Ezek 20; and Neh 9:6-38.

¹⁸ tn Grk “And he said, ‘Look!’” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

¹⁹ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

²⁰ tn The double vocative suggests emotion.

²¹ sn Persecuting me. To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus.

²² tn Grk “to bind.”

²³ sn The expression “those who call on your name” is a frequent description of believers (Acts 2:21; 1 Cor 1:2; Rom 10:13).

²⁴ tn Grk “It happened that for several 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.

²⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

²⁶ tn The ὅτι (Joti) is understood to introduce direct (“This man is the Son of God”) rather than indirect discourse (“that this man is the Son of God”) because the pronoun οὗτος (Jouto") combined with the present tense verb ἐστιν (estin) suggests the contents of what was proclaimed are a direct (albeit summarized) quotation.

sn This is the only use of the title Son of God in Acts. The book prefers to allow a variety of descriptions to present Jesus.

²⁷ tn Or “arguing.” BDAG 954 s.v. συζητέω 2 gives “dispute, debate, argue…τινί ‘w. someone’” for συνεζήτει (sunezhtei).

²⁸ tn Grk “the Hellenists,” but this descriptive term is largely unknown to the modern English reader. The translation “Greek-speaking Jews” attempts to convey something of who these were, but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of adoption of Greek culture as well.

²⁹ tn The traditional translation, “he fell into a trance,” is somewhat idiomatic; it is based on the textual variant ἐπέπεσεν (epepesen, “he fell”) found in the Byzantine text but almost certainly not original.

³⁰ tn Or “From the offspring”; Grk “From the seed.”

sn From the descendants (Grk “seed”). On the importance of the seed promise involving Abraham, see Gal 3:6-29.

³¹ sn The phrase this man is in emphatic position in the Greek text.

³² tn Grk “according to [his] promise.” The comparative clause “just as he promised” is less awkward in English.

sn Just as he promised. Note how Paul describes Israel’s history carefully to David and then leaps forward immediately to Jesus. Paul is expounding the initial realization of Davidic promise as it was delivered in Jesus.

³³ tn Grk “Therefore he also says in another”; the word “psalm” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

³⁴ tn The Greek word translated “Holy One” here (ὅσιόν, {osion) is related to the use of ὅσια (Josia) in v. 34. The link is a wordplay. The Holy One, who does not die, brings the faithful holy blessings of promise to the people.

³⁵ tn Grk “to see,” but the literal translation of the phrase “to see decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “to look at decay,” while here “see decay” is really figurative for “experience decay.”

³⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 16:10.

³⁷ tn BDAG 722 s.v. ὀρθός 1.a has “stand upright on your feet.”

³⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³⁹ tn This verb is imperfect tense in contrast to the previous verb, which is aorist. It has been translated ingressively, since the start of a sequence is in view here.

⁴⁰ tn Or “prison.”

⁴¹ tn L&N 6.21 has “stocks” for εἰς τὸ ξύλον (ei" to xulon) here, as does BDAG 685 s.v. ξύλον 2.b. However, it is also possible (as mentioned in L&N 18.12) that this does not mean “stocks” but a block of wood (a log or wooden column) in the prison to which prisoners’ feet were chained or tied. Such a possibility is suggested by v. 26, where the “bonds” (“chains”?) of the prisoners loosened.

⁴² tn Or “has deliberately paid no attention to.”

⁴³ tn Or “times when people did not know.”

⁴⁴ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

⁴⁵ sn He now commands all people everywhere to repent. God was now asking all mankind to turn to him. No nation or race was excluded.

⁴⁶ tn Or “vehemently.” BDAG 414 s.v. εὐτόνως has “vigorously, vehemently…εὐ. διακατελέγχεσθαί τινι refute someone vigorously Ac 18:28.”

⁴⁷ tn L&N 33.442 translates the phrase τοῖς ᾿Ιουδαίοις διακατηλέγχετο δημοσίᾳ (toi" Ioudaioi" diakathlenceto dhmosia) as “he defeated the Jews in public debate.” On this use of the term δημόσιος (dhmosio") see BDAG 223 s.v. 2.

⁴⁸ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Again the issue is identifying the Christ as Jesus (see 5:42; 8:5; 9:22; 18:5).

sn See the note on Christ in 2:31.

⁴⁹ tn Although many English translations have here “that Jesus was the Christ,” in the case of two accusatives following a copulative infinitive, the first would normally be the subject and the second the predicate nominative. Additionally, the first accusative here (τὸν χριστόν, ton criston) has the article, a further indication that it should be regarded as subject of the infinitive.

⁵⁰ tn Grk “It happened that while.” 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.

⁵¹ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

⁵² tn Or “interior.”

⁵³ tn BDAG 92 s.v. ἀνωτερικός has “upper τὰ ἀ. μέρη the upper (i.e. inland) country, the interior Ac 19:1.”

⁵⁴ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

⁵⁵ tn Grk “and found.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the sequencing with the following verse the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

⁵⁶ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

⁵⁷ sn Miletus was a seaport on the western coast of Asia Minor about 45 mi (72 km) south of Ephesus.

⁵⁸ tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

⁵⁹ tn The words “to him” are not in the Greek text but are implied. L&N 33.311 has for the verb μετακαλέομαι (metakaleomai) “to summon someone, with considerable insistence and authority – ‘to summon, to tell to come.’”

⁶⁰ tn The participle πειθομένου (peiqomenou) in this genitive absolute construction has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

⁶¹ tn Grk “we became silent, saying.”

⁶² sn “The Lord’s will be done.” Since no one knew exactly what would happen, the matter was left in the Lord’s hands.

⁶³ tn ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally.

⁶⁴ tn Or “spoke out to.” L&N 33.27 has “to address an audience, with possible emphasis upon loudness – ‘to address, to speak out to.’ πολλῆς δέ σιγῆς γενομένης προσεφώνησεν τῇ ᾿Εβραίδι διαλέκτῳ ‘when they were quiet, he addressed them in Hebrew’ Ac 21:40.”

⁶⁵ tn Grk “in the Hebrew language.” See the note on “Aramaic” in 21:40.

⁶⁶ tn BDAG 613-14 s.v. μᾶλλον 1 “Abs. μ. can mean to a greater degree (than before), even more, now more than ever Lk 5:15; Jn 5:18; 19:8; Ac 5:14; 22:2; 2 Cor 7:7.”

⁶⁷ tn BDAG 440 s.v. ἡσυχία 2 has “παρέχειν ἡσυχίαν quiet down, give a hearing…Ac 22:2.”

sn This is best taken as a parenthetical note by the author.

⁶⁸ tn Grk “and.” Since this represents a continuation of the speech begun in v. 1, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

⁶⁹ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 24.

⁷⁰ tn Grk “and said to.”

⁷¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷² tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

⁷³ tn Grk “He said.”

⁷⁴ tn The participle εἰπόντος (eiponto") has been translated temporally.

⁷⁵ tn Or “a dispute” (BDAG 940 s.v. στάσις 3).

⁷⁶ tn Grk “there came about an argument.” This has been simplified to “an argument began”

⁷⁷ tn Grk “provide mounts to put Paul on.”

sn Mounts for Paul to ride. The fact they were riding horses indicates they wanted everyone to move as quickly as possible.

⁷⁸ sn Felix the governor was Antonius Felix, a freedman of Antonia, mother of the Emperor Claudius. He was the brother of Pallas and became procurator of Palestine in a.d. 52/53. His administration was notorious for its corruption, cynicism, and cruelty. According to the historian Tacitus (History 5.9) Felix “reveled in cruelty and lust, and wielded the power of a king with the mind of a slave.”

⁷⁹ tn Grk “Felix the procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” (BDAG 433 s.v. ἡγεμών 2).

⁸⁰ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

⁸¹ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1.

⁸² tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

⁸³ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

⁸⁴ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

⁸⁵ tn Or “set free.”

⁸⁶ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

sn If he had not appealed to Caesar. Ultimately Agrippa and Festus blamed what Paul himself had done in appealing to Caesar for his own continued custody. In terms of Luke’s narrative, this still appears unjust and a denial of responsibility.

⁸⁷ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

⁸⁸ tn Grk “finding.” The participle εὑρών (Jeurwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁸⁹ sn Alexandria (modern Alexandria) was a great city of northern Egypt which was a center for grain trade to Rome. Therefore this type of travel connection was common at the time. For a winter journey (considered hazardous) there were special bonuses and insurance provided (Suetonius, Life of Claudius 18.1-2).