Discovery BoxActs 3:18 
Context3:18 But the things God foretold 1 long ago through 2 all the prophets – that his Christ 3 would suffer – he has fulfilled in this way.
Acts 3:24-26
Context3:24 And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced 4 these days. 3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, 5 saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants 6 all the nations 7 of the earth will be blessed.’ 8 3:26 God raised up 9 his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning 10 each one of you from your iniquities.” 11
1 sn God foretold. Peter’s topic is the working out of God’s plan and promise through events the scriptures also note.
2 tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).
3 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
sn See the note on Christ in 2:31.
4 tn Or “proclaimed.”
sn All the prophets…have spoken about and announced. What Peter preaches is rooted in basic biblical and Jewish hope as expressed in the OT scriptures.
5 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
6 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.
7 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.
8 sn A quotation from Gen 22:18.
9 tn Grk “God raising up his servant, sent him.” The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Some translations (e.g., NIV, NRSV) render this participle as temporal (“when God raised up his servant”).
10 sn The picture of turning is again seen as the appropriate response to the message. See v. 19 above. In v. 19 it was “turning to,” here it is “turning away from.” The direction of the two metaphors is important.
11 tn For the translation of plural πονηρία (ponhria) as “iniquities,” see G. Harder, TDNT 6:565. The plural is important, since for Luke turning to Jesus means turning away from sins, not just the sin of rejecting Jesus.
