Discovery BoxActs 10:4-6 
Context10:4 Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius 1 replied, 2 “What is it, Lord?” The angel 3 said to him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity 4 have gone up as a memorial 5 before God. 10:5 Now 6 send men to Joppa 7 and summon a man named Simon, 8 who is called Peter. 10:6 This man is staying as a guest with a man named Simon, a tanner, 9 whose house is by the sea.”
1 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Cornelius) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Grk “said,” but in response to the angel’s address, “replied” is better English style.
3 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Or “your gifts to the needy.”
5 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).
6 tn Grk “And now.” 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.
7 sn Joppa was a seaport on the Philistine coast, in the same location as modern Jaffa.
8 tn Grk “a certain Simon.”
9 tn Or “with a certain Simon Berseus.” Although most modern English translations treat βυρσεῖ (bursei) as Simon’s profession (“Simon the tanner”), it is possible that the word is actually Simon’s surname (“Simon Berseus” or “Simon Tanner”). BDAG 185 s.v. βυρσεύς regards it as a surname. See also MM 118.
