¹ tn Grk “hear,” but the idea of “hear and obey” or simply “obey” is frequently contained in the Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw; see L&N 36.14) and the following context (v. 23) makes it clear that failure to “obey” the words of this “prophet like Moses” will result in complete destruction.

² sn A quotation from Deut 18:15. By quoting Deut 18:15 Peter declared that Jesus was the eschatological “prophet like [Moses]” mentioned in that passage, who reveals the plan of God and the way of God.

³ tn Or “practices.”

sn Will destroy this place and change the customs. Stephen appears to view the temple as a less central place in light of Christ’s work, an important challenge to Jewish religion, since it was at this time a temple-centered state and religion. Unlike Acts 3-4, the issue here is more than Jesus and his resurrection. Now the impact of his resurrection and the temple’s centrality has also become an issue. The “falseness” of the charge may not be that the witnesses were lying, but that they falsely read the truth of Stephen’s remarks.

⁴ tn Or “was well-formed before God,” or “was well-pleasing to God” (BDAG 145 s.v. ἀστεῖος suggests the meaning is more like “well-bred” as far as God was concerned; see Exod 2:2).

⁵ tn Grk “who was brought up for three months.” The continuation of the sentence as a relative clause is awkward in English, so a new sentence was started in the translation by changing the relative pronoun to a regular pronoun (“he”).

⁶ 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.

⁷ tn “Hurt unfairly” conveys a better sense of the seriousness of the offense against the Israelite than “treated unfairly,” which can sometimes refer to slight offenses, or “wronged,” which can refer to offenses that do not involve personal violence, as this one probably did.

⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Or “he defended,” “he retaliated” (BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμύνομαι).

¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Grk “saw them”; the context makes clear that two individuals were involved (v. 27).

¹² tn Or “tried to reconcile” (BDAG 964-65 s.v. συναλλάσσω).

¹³ tn Or “repudiated Moses,” “rejected Moses” (BDAG 126-27 s.v. ἀπωθέω 2).

¹⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Or “appointed.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “At this word,” which could be translated either “when the man said this” or “when Moses heard this.” Since λόγος (logos) refers to the remark made by the Israelite, this translation has followed the first option.

¹⁷ tn Or “resident alien.” Traditionally πάροικος (paroiko") has been translated “stranger” or “alien,” but the level of specificity employed with “foreigner” or “resident alien” is now necessary in contemporary English because a “stranger” is a person not acquainted with someone, while an “alien” can suggest science fiction imagery.

¹⁸ tn Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “and Isaac,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

²⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 3:6. The phrase suggests the God of promise, the God of the nation.

²¹ tn Or “to investigate,” “to contemplate” (BDAG 522 s.v. κατανοέω 2).

²² tn Grk “to the sons of Israel.”

²³ sn A quotation from Deut 18:15. This quotation sets up Jesus as the “leader-prophet” like Moses (Acts 3:22; Luke 9:35).

²⁴ sn This one refers here to Jesus.

²⁵ tn Or “is freed.” The translation of δικαιωθῆναι (dikaiwqhnai) and δικαιοῦται (dikaioutai) in Acts 13:38-39 is difficult. BDAG 249 s.v. δικαιόω 3 categorizes δικαιωθῆναι in 13:38 (Greek text) under the meaning “make free/pure” but categorizes δικαιοῦται in Acts 13:39 as “be found in the right, be free of charges” (BDAG 249 s.v. δικαιόω 2.b.β). In the interest of consistency both verbs are rendered as “justified” in this translation.

²⁶ tn Or “could not free.”

²⁷ tn Grk “from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation, with “by the law of Moses” becoming the subject of the final clause. The words “from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you” are part of v. 38 in the Greek text, but due to English style and word order must be placed in v. 39 in the translation.

²⁸ sn That is, they came down from Judea to Antioch in Syria.

²⁹ tc Codex Bezae (D) and a few other witnesses have “and walk” here (i.e., instead of τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως [tw eqei tw Mwu>sew"] they read καὶ τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως περιπατῆτε [kai tw eqei tw Mwu>sew" peripathte]). This is a decidedly stronger focus on obedience to the Law. As well, D expands vv. 1-5 in various places with the overall effect of being “more sympathetic to the local tradition of the church at Jerusalem” while the Alexandrian witnesses are more sympathetic to Paul (TCGNT 377). Codex D is well known for having a significantly longer text in Acts, but modern scholarship is generally of the opinion that the text of D expands on the original wording of Acts, with a theological viewpoint that especially puts Peter in a more authoritarian light. The expansion in these five verses is in keeping with that motif even though Peter is not explicitly in view.

sn Unless you are circumcised. These teachers from Judea were teaching that Gentiles could not be saved unless they kept the law of Moses in regard to circumcision. Thus according to them a Gentile had first to become a proselyte to Judaism, including circumcision, before one could become a Christian. This party is sometimes known (collectively) as Judaizers. They did not question that Gentiles could come into the community, but disagreed with Paul and Barnabas on what basis they could do so.

³⁰ tn Grk “from generations of old”; the translation “fr. ancient times” is given by BDAG 192 s.v. γενεά 3.b.

³¹ tn The translation “read aloud” is used to indicate the actual practice; translating as “read” could be misunderstood to mean private, silent reading.

³² sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.