Discovery BoxActs 6:14 
Context6:14 For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs 1 that Moses handed down to us.”
Acts 26:3
Context26:3 because you are especially 2 familiar with all the customs and controversial issues 3 of the Jews. Therefore I ask 4 you to listen to me patiently.
Acts 21:21
Context21:21 They have been informed about you – that you teach all the Jews now living 5 among the Gentiles to abandon 6 Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children 7 or live 8 according to our customs.
Acts 28:17
Context28:17 After three days 9 Paul 10 called the local Jewish leaders 11 together. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, 12 although I had done 13 nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, 14 from Jerusalem 15 I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans. 16
1 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.
2 tn BDAG 613 s.v. μάλιστα 1 states, “μ. γνώστην ὄντα σε since you are outstandingly familiar Ac 26:3.”
3 tn Grk “several controversial issues.” BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19.”
4 tn BDAG 218 s.v. δέομαι states, “In our lit. only w. the mng. to ask for something pleadingly, ask, request,” and then in section a.α states, “w. inf. foll.…Ac 26:3.”
5 tn BDAG 511 s.v. κατά B.1.a has “τοὺς κ. τὰ ἔθνη ᾿Ιουδαίους the Judeans (dispersed) throughout the nations 21:21.” The Jews in view are not those in Palestine, but those who are scattered throughout the Gentile world.
6 tn Or “to forsake,” “to rebel against.” BDAG 120 s.v. ἀποστασία has “ἀποστασίαν διδάσκεις ἀπὸ Μωϋσέως you teach (Judeans) to abandon Moses Ac 21:21.”
sn The charge that Paul was teaching Jews in the Diaspora to abandon Moses was different from the issue faced in Acts 15, where the question was whether Gentiles needed to become like Jews first in order to become Christians. The issue also appears in Acts 24:5-6, 13-21; 25:8.
7 sn That is, not to circumcise their male children. Biblical references to circumcision always refer to male circumcision.
8 tn Grk “or walk.”
9 tn Grk “It happened that after three days.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn L&N 33.309 has “‘after three days, he called the local Jewish leaders together’ Ac 28:17.”
12 tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.
13 tn The participle ποιήσας (poihsas) has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.
14 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
sn I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors. Once again Paul claimed to be faithful to the Jewish people and to the God of Israel.
15 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
16 tn Grk “into the hands of the Romans,” but this is redundant when παρεδόθην (paredoqhn) has been translated “handed over.”
