Discovery BoxActs 3:13 
Context3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 1 the God of our forefathers, 2 has glorified 3 his servant 4 Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected 5 in the presence of Pilate after he had decided 6 to release him.
Acts 3:25
Context3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, 7 saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants 8 all the nations 9 of the earth will be blessed.’ 10
Acts 7:8
Context7:8 Then God 11 gave Abraham 12 the covenant 13 of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old, 14 and Isaac became the father of 15 Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 16
Acts 7:16
Context7:16 and their bones 17 were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money 18 from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
1 tc ‡ The repetition of ὁ θεός (Jo qeos, “God”) before the names of Isaac and Jacob is found in Ì74 א C (A D without article) 36 104 1175 pc lat. The omission of the second and third ὁ θεός is supported by B E Ψ 33 1739 Ï pc. The other time that Exod 3:6 is quoted in Acts (7:32) the best witnesses also lack the repeated ὁ θεός, but the three other times this OT passage is quoted in the NT the full form, with the thrice-mentioned θεός, is used (Matt 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37). Scribes would be prone to conform the wording here to the LXX; the longer reading is thus most likely not authentic. NA27 has the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.
2 tn Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”
sn The reference to the God of the patriarchs is a reminder that God is the God of the nation and of promises. The phrase God of our forefathers is from the Hebrew scriptures (Exod 3:6, 15-16; 4:5; see also the Jewish prayer known as “The Eighteen Benedictions”). Once again, event has led to explanation, or what is called the “sign and speech” pattern.
3 sn Has glorified. Jesus is alive, raised and active, as the healing illustrates so dramatically how God honors him.
4 sn His servant. The term servant has messianic connotations given the context of the promise, the note of suffering, and the titles and functions noted in vv. 14-15.
5 tn Or “denied,” “disowned.”
6 tn This genitive absolute construction could be understood as temporal (“when he had decided”) or concessive (“although he had decided”).
7 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
8 tn Or “in your offspring”; Grk “in your seed.”
sn In your descendants (Grk “in your seed”). Seed has an important ambiguity in this verse. The blessing comes from the servant (v. 26), who in turn blesses the responsive children of the covenant as the scripture promised. Jesus is the seed who blesses the seed.
9 tn Or “families.” The Greek word πατριά (patria) can indicate persons of succeeding generations who are related by birth (“lineage,” “family”) but it can also indicate a relatively large unit of people who make up a sociopolitical group and who share a presumed biological descent. In many contexts πατριά is very similar to ἔθνος (eqnos) and λαός (laos). In light of the context of the OT quotation, it is better to translate πατριά as “nations” here.
10 sn A quotation from Gen 22:18.
11 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 sn God gave…the covenant. Note how the covenant of promise came before Abraham’s entry into the land and before the building of the temple.
14 tn Grk “circumcised him on the eighth day,” but many modern readers will not understand that this procedure was done on the eighth day after birth. The temporal clause “when he was eight days old” conveys this idea more clearly. See Gen 17:11-12.
15 tn The words “became the father of” are not in the Greek text due to an ellipsis, but must be supplied for the English translation. The ellipsis picks up the verb from the previous clause describing how Abraham fathered Isaac.
16 sn The twelve patriarchs refers to the twelve sons of Jacob, the famous ancestors of the Jewish race (see Gen 35:23-26).
17 tn “and they.”
18 sn See Gen 49:29-32.
