Discovery BoxActs 2:33 
Context2:33 So then, exalted 1 to the right hand 2 of God, and having received 3 the promise of the Holy Spirit 4 from the Father, he has poured out 5 what you both see and hear.
Acts 7:35
Context7:35 This same 6 Moses they had rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ 7 God sent as both ruler and deliverer 8 through the hand of the angel 9 who appeared to him in the bush.
Acts 12:11
Context12:11 When 10 Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued 11 me from the hand 12 of Herod 13 and from everything the Jewish people 14 were expecting to happen.”
Acts 19:33
Context19:33 Some of the crowd concluded 15 it was about 16 Alexander because the Jews had pushed him to the front. 17 Alexander, gesturing 18 with his hand, was wanting to make a defense 19 before the public assembly. 20
Acts 21:40
Context21:40 When the commanding officer 21 had given him permission, 22 Paul stood 23 on the steps and gestured 24 to the people with his hand. When they had become silent, 25 he addressed 26 them in Aramaic, 27
Acts 25:16
Context25:16 I answered them 28 that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone 29 before the accused had met his accusers face to face 30 and had been given 31 an opportunity to make a defense against the accusation. 32
Acts 28:3-4
Context28:3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood 33 and was putting it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. 28:4 When the local people 34 saw the creature hanging from Paul’s 35 hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself 36 has not allowed him to live!” 37
1 tn The aorist participle ὑψωθείς (Juywqei") could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…” In the translation the more neutral “exalted” (a shorter form of “having been exalted”) was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.
2 sn The expression the right hand of God represents supreme power and authority. Its use here sets up the quotation of Ps 110:1 in v. 34.
3 tn The aorist participle λαβών (labwn) could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…and received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit.” In the translation the more neutral “having received” was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.
4 tn Here the genitive τοῦ πνεύματος (tou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the promise consists of the Holy Spirit.
5 sn The use of the verb poured out looks back to 2:17-18, where the same verb occurs twice.
6 sn This same. The reference to “this one” occurs five times in this speech. It is the way the other speeches in Acts refer to Jesus (e.g., Acts 2:23).
7 sn A quotation from Exod 2:14 (see Acts 7:27). God saw Moses very differently than the people of the nation did. The reference to a ruler and a judge suggests that Stephen set up a comparison between Moses and Jesus, but he never finished his speech to make the point. The reader of Acts, however, knowing the other sermons in the book, recognizes that the rejection of Jesus is the counterpoint.
8 tn Or “liberator.” The meaning “liberator” for λυτρωτήν (lutrwthn) is given in L&N 37.129: “a person who liberates or releases others.”
9 tn Or simply “through the angel.” Here the “hand” could be understood as a figure for the person or the power of the angel himself. The remark about the angel appearing fits the first century Jewish view that God appears to no one (John 1:14-18; Gal 3:19; Deut 33:2 LXX).
10 tn Grk “And when.” 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.
11 tn Or “delivered.”
12 sn Here the hand of Herod is a metaphor for Herod’s power or control.
13 sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great).
14 sn Luke characterizes the opposition here as the Jewish people, including their leadership (see 12:3).
15 tn Or “Some of the crowd gave instructions to.”
16 tn The words “it was about” are not in the Greek text but are implied; ᾿Αλέξανδρον (Alexandron) is taken to be an accusative of general reference.
17 tn BDAG 865 s.v. προβάλλω 1 has “to cause to come forward, put forward…τινά someone…push someone forward to speak in the theater…Ac 19:33.”
18 tn Or “motioning.”
19 sn The nature of Alexander’s defense is not clear. It appears he was going to explain, as a Jew, that the problem was not caused by Jews, but by those of “the Way.” However, he never got a chance to speak.
20 tn Or “before the crowd.” According to BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος 2, “in a Hellenistic city, a convocation of citizens called together for the purpose of transacting official business, popular assembly…ἀπολογεῖσθαι τῷ δ. make a defense before the assembly vs. 33.”
21 tn The referent (the commanding officer) has been supplied here in the translation for clarity.
22 tn Grk “Giving him permission.” The participle ἐπιτρέψαντος (epitreyanto") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
23 tn Grk “standing.” The participle ἑστώς (Jestws) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
24 tn Or “motioned.”
25 tn γενομένης (genomenhs) has been taken temporally. BDAG 922 s.v. σιγή has “πολλῆς σιγῆς γενομένης when a great silence had fallen = when they had become silent Ac 21:40.”
26 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.”
27 tn Grk “in the Hebrew dialect, saying.” This refers to the Aramaic spoken in Palestine in the 1st century (BDAG 270 s.v. ῾Εβραΐς). The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
28 tn Grk “to whom I answered.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced with a personal pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 16.
sn “I answered them.” In the answer that follows, Festus is portrayed in a more positive light, being sensitive to justice and Roman law.
29 tn Grk “any man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos).
30 tn Or “has met his accusers in person.”
31 tn Grk “and receives.”
32 tn Or “indictment” (a legal technical term). BDAG 273-74 s.v. ἔγκλημα 1 states, “legal t.t.…ἀπολογία περὶ τοῦ ἐ. defense against the accusation Ac 25:16.” L&N 56.6 defines ἔγκλημα (enklhma) as “(a technical, legal term) a formal indictment or accusation brought against someone – ‘indictment, accusation, case.’ …‘and might receive an opportunity for a defense against the indictment’ Ac 25:16.”
33 tn Or “sticks.”
34 tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”
35 tn Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
36 tn That is, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. BDAG 250 s.v. δίκη 2 states, “Justice personified as a deity Ac 28:4”; L&N 12.27, “a goddess who personifies justice in seeking out and punishing the guilty – ‘the goddess Justice.’ ἡ δίκη ζῆν οὐκ εἴασεν ‘the goddess Justice would not let him live’ Ac 28:4.” Although a number of modern English translations have rendered δίκη (dikh) “justice,” preferring to use an abstraction, in the original setting it is almost certainly a reference to a pagan deity. In the translation, the noun “justice” was capitalized and the reflexive pronoun “herself” was supplied to make the personification clear. This was considered preferable to supplying a word like ‘goddess’ in connection with δίκη.
37 sn The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person (Justice herself has not allowed him to live). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.
