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 Grk “whom,” continuing the sentence from v. 20.

⁵ sn The term must used here (δεῖ, dei, “it is necessary”) is a key Lukan term to point to the plan of God and what must occur.

⁶ tn Grk “until the times of the restoration of all things.” Because of the awkward English style of the extended genitive construction, and because the following relative clause has as its referent the “time of restoration” rather than “all things,” the phrase was translated “until the time all things are restored.”

sn The time all things are restored. What that restoration involves is already recorded in the scriptures of the nation of Israel.

⁷ tn Or “spoke.”

⁸ tn Or “from all ages past.”

sn From times long ago. Once again, God’s plan is emphasized.

⁹ tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).

¹⁰ tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”

¹¹ tn Or “Gentiles.”

¹² sn The Greek word translated rage includes not only anger but opposition, both verbal and nonverbal. See L&N 88.185.

¹³ tn Or “futile”; traditionally, “vain.”

¹⁴ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

¹⁵ sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.

¹⁶ tn BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α states, “Oft. the emphasis is unmistakably laid upon that which follows the Divine Judge’s verdict, upon the condemnation or punishment: condemn, punish …Ac 7:7 (Gen 15:14).”

¹⁷ tn The words “of there” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

sn A quotation from Gen 15:14.

¹⁸ tn Or “and serve,” but with religious/cultic overtones (BDAG 587 s.v. λατρεύω).

¹⁹ sn An allusion to Exod 3:12.

²⁰ tn Grk “And we.” 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.

²¹ tn Grk “the land of the Jews,” but this is similar to the phrase used as the name of the province of Judea in 1 Macc 8:3 (see BDAG 1093-94 s.v. χώρα 2.b).

²² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

²³ tn Grk “in Jerusalem, whom they killed.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “him” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.

²⁴ tn Or “by crucifying him” (“hang on a tree” is by the time of the 1st century an idiom for crucifixion). The allusion is to the judgment against Jesus as a rebellious figure, appealing to the language of Deut 21:23. The Jewish leadership has badly “misjudged” Jesus.

²⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁶ tn Or “were leaving.” The participle ἐξιόντων (exiontwn) is taken temporally.

²⁷ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁸ tn Or “begging,” “inviting.”

²⁹ tn Or “matters.”

³⁰ tn BDAG 761 s.v. παραδέχομαι 2 has “receive, accept” for the meaning here.

³¹ tn Or “announced.”

³² tn “They reported all the things God had done with them” – an identical phrase occurs in Acts 14:27. God is always the agent.

³³ tn Or “so that all other people.” The use of this term follows Amos 9:11 LXX.

³⁴ 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.

³⁵ 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.

³⁶ 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.

³⁷ 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.

³⁸ tn Or “dispute.”

³⁹ tn Grk “see to it” (an idiom).

⁴⁰ tn Or “I am not willing to be.” Gallio would not adjudicate their religious dispute.

⁴¹ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

⁴² tn BDAG 760 s.v. παραγγέλλω has “to make an announcement about someth. that must be done, give orders, command, instruct, direct of all kinds of persons in authority, worldly rulers, Jesus, the apostles…παραγγέλλειν w. an inf. and μή comes to mean forbid to do someth.: π. τινί w. aor. inf. Lk 5:14; 8:56; without the dat., which is easily supplied fr. the context Ac 23:22.” However, if the direct discourse which follows is to be retained in the translation, a different translation must be used since it is awkward to introduce direct discourse with the verb to forbid. Thus the alternative to direct was used.

⁴³ tn On this verb, see BDAG 325-26 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 2. The term was frequently used of an official report to authorities. In modern terms, this was a police tip.

⁴⁴ tn Or “question.”

⁴⁵ tn Grk “From whom when you examine him yourself, you will be able to learn…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the third person singular pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun at the beginning of v. 8 in the translation.

⁴⁶ tn Grk “about all these things of which we are accusing him.” This has been simplified to eliminate the relative pronoun (“of which”) in the translation.

⁴⁷ tn BDAG 737 s.v. οὖν 3 states, “It has been proposed that some traces of older Gk. usage in which οὖν is emphatic, = certainly, really, to be sure etc. (s. L-S-J-M s.v. 1) remain in the pap…and in the NT…indeed, of course Ac 26:9.”

⁴⁸ tn Grk “I thought to myself.” BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.a has “ἔδοξα ἐμαυτῷ δεῖν πρᾶξαι = Lat. mihi videbar I was convinced that it was necessary to do Ac 26:9.”

⁴⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵⁰ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

⁵¹ tn On the term translated “lost your mind” see BDAG 610 s.v. μαίνομαι, which has “you’re out of your mind, you’re raving, said to one whose enthusiasm seems to have outrun better judgment 26:24.”

sn The expression “You have lost your mind” would be said to someone who speaks incredible things, in the opinion of the hearer. Paul’s mention of the resurrection (v. 23) was probably what prompted Festus to say this.