Acts 5:4
Context5:4 Before it was sold, 1 did it not 2 belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money 3 not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? 4 You have not lied to people 5 but to God!”
Acts 21:24
Context21:24 take them and purify 6 yourself along with them and pay their expenses, 7 so that they may have their heads shaved. 8 Then 9 everyone will know there is nothing in what they have been told 10 about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with 11 the law. 12
Acts 23:21
Context23:21 So do not let them persuade you to do this, 13 because more than forty of them 14 are lying in ambush 15 for him. They 16 have bound themselves with an oath 17 not to eat or drink anything 18 until they have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for you to agree to their request.” 19
Acts 26:16
Context26:16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance 20 as a servant and witness 21 to the things 22 you have seen 23 and to the things in which I will appear to you.
1 tn Grk “Remaining to you.”
2 tn The negative interrogative particle οὐχί (ouci) expects a positive reply to this question and the following one (“And when it was sold, was it not at your disposal?”).
3 tn Grk “it”; the referent of the pronoun (the money generated from the sale of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Grk “How is it that you have [or Why have you] placed this deed in your heart?” Both of these literal translations differ from the normal way of expressing the thought in English.
5 tn Grk “to men.” If Peter’s remark refers only to the apostles, the translation “to men” would be appropriate. But if (as is likely) the action was taken to impress the entire congregation (who would presumably have witnessed the donation or been aware of it) then the more general “to people” is more appropriate, since the audience would have included both men and women.
6 sn That is, undergo ritual cleansing. Paul’s cleansing would be necessary because of his travels in “unclean” Gentile territory. This act would represent a conciliatory gesture. Paul would have supported a “law-free” mission to the Gentiles as an option, but this gesture would represent an attempt to be sensitive to the Jews (1 Cor 9:15-22).
7 tn L&N 57.146 has “δαπάνησον ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς ‘pay their expenses’ Ac 21:24.”
8 tn The future middle indicative has causative force here. BDAG 686 s.v. ξυράω has “mid. have oneself shaved…τὴν κεφαλήν have one’s head shaved…Ac 21:24.”
sn Having their heads shaved probably involved ending a voluntary Nazirite vow (Num 6:14-15).
9 tn Grk “and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.
10 tn The verb here describes a report or some type of information (BDAG 534 s.v. κατηχέω 1).
11 tn Grk “adhere to the keeping of the law.” L&N 41.12 has “στοιχέω: to live in conformity with some presumed standard or set of customs – ‘to live, to behave in accordance with.’”
12 sn The law refers to the law of Moses.
13 tn Grk “do not be persuaded by them.” The passive construction μὴ πεισθῇς αὐτοῖς (mh peisqh" autoi") has been converted to an active construction in the translation, and the phrase “to do this” supplied to indicate more clearly the object of their persuasion.
14 tn Grk “forty men of them.” In the expression ἐξ αὐτῶν ἄνδρες (ex autwn andre") “men” is somewhat redundant and has not been included in the English translation.
15 tn Grk “are lying in wait for him” (BDAG 334 s.v. ἐνεδρεύω); see also v. 16.
16 tn Grk “for him, who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“they”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.
17 tn Or “bound themselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone… ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.”
18 tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
19 tn Grk “waiting for your approval,” “waiting for your agreement.” Since it would be possible to misunderstand the literal translation “waiting for your approval” to mean that the Jews were waiting for the commander’s approval to carry out their plot or to kill Paul (as if he were to be an accomplice to their plot), the object of the commander’s approval (their request to bring Paul to the council) has been specified in the translation as “their request.”
20 tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance.’”
21 sn As a servant and witness. The commission is similar to Acts 1:8 and Luke 1:2. Paul was now an “eyewitness” of the Lord.
22 tn BDAG 719 s.v. ὁράω A.1.b states, “W. attraction of the relative ὧν = τούτων ἅ Lk 9:36; Ac 22:15. The attraction may be due to colloq. breviloquence in μάρτυρα ὧν τε εἶδες με ὧν τε ὀφθήσομαί σοι a witness to the things in which you saw me and to those in which I shall appear to you Ac 26:16b.”
23 tc ‡ Some