Discovery BoxActs 15:14 
Context15:14 Simeon 1 has explained 2 how God first concerned himself 3 to select 4 from among the Gentiles 5 a people for his name.
Acts 15:17
Context15:17 so that the rest of humanity 6 may seek the Lord,
namely, 7 all the Gentiles 8 I have called to be my own,’ 9 says the Lord, 10 who makes these things
1 sn Simeon is a form of the apostle Peter’s Aramaic name. James uses Peter’s “Jewish” name here.
2 tn Or “reported,” “described.”
3 tn BDAG 378 s.v. ἐπισκέπτομαι 3 translates this phrase in Acts 15:14, “God concerned himself about winning a people fr. among the nations.”
4 tn Grk “to take,” but in the sense of selecting or choosing (accompanied by the preposition ἐκ [ek] plus a genitive specifying the group selected from) see Heb 5:1; also BDAG 584 s.v. λαμβάνω 6.
5 sn In the Greek text the expression “from among the Gentiles” is in emphatic position.
6 tn Or “so that all other people.” The use of this term follows Amos 9:11 LXX.
7 tn Here καί (kai) introduces an explanatory clause that explains the preceding phrase “the rest of humanity.” The clause introduced by καί (kai) could also be punctuated in English as a parenthesis.
8 tn Or “all the nations” (in Greek the word for “nation” and “Gentile” is the same).
sn Note the linkage back to v. 14 through the mention of Gentiles. What Simeon explained is what the OT text says would happen.
9 tn Grk “all the Gentiles on whom my name has been called.” Based on well-attested OT usage, the passive of ἐπικαλέω (epikalew) here indicates God’s ownership (“all the Gentiles who belong to me”) or calling (“all the Gentiles whom I have called to be my own”). See L&N 11.28.
10 sn A quotation from Amos 9:11-12 LXX. James demonstrated a high degree of cultural sensitivity when he cited a version of the text (the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament) that Gentiles would use.
