¹ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ at the end, “do you?”

sn A quotation from Exod 2:14. Even though a negative reply was expected, the question still frightened Moses enough to flee, because he knew his deed had become known. This understanding is based on the Greek text, not the Hebrew of the original setting. Yet the negative here expresses the fact that Moses did not want to kill the other man. Once again the people have badly misunderstood the situation.

² tn Or “ability”; Grk “authority.”

³ tn Grk “answered and said.” The redundant participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqei") has not been translated.

⁴ tn Grk “I beg you,” “I ask you.”

⁵ sn About himself, or about someone else? It is likely in 1st century Judaism this would have been understood as either Israel or Isaiah.

⁶ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

⁷ tn The double vocative suggests emotion.

⁸ sn Persecuting me. To persecute the church is to persecute Jesus.

⁹ tn Grk “And behold.”

¹⁰ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1.

map For location see Map2 C1; Map4 B3; Map5 F2; Map7 A1; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

¹¹ tn See BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1 for this meaning for ἐπέστησαν (epesthsan) here.

¹² tn The word “staying” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

¹³ tn Grk “And now, behold.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

¹⁴ tn Grk “bound.”

¹⁵ sn This journey to Jerusalem suggests a parallel between Paul and Jesus, since the “Jerusalem journey” motif figures so prominently in Luke’s Gospel (9:51-19:44).

¹⁶ tn BDAG 965 s.v. συναντάω 2 has τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ συναντήσοντα ἐμοὶ μὴ εἰδώς without knowing what will happen to me there Ac 20:22.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “And now, behold.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

¹⁸ tn Grk “all of you…will not see.” Greek handles its negation somewhat differently from English, and the translation follows English grammatical conventions.

¹⁹ sn Note how Paul’s usage of the expression proclaiming the kingdom is associated with (and intertwined with) his testifying to the good news of God’s grace in v. 24. For Paul the two concepts were interrelated.

²⁰ tn Grk “will see my face” (an idiom for seeing someone in person).

²¹ tn Grk “It happened that as.” 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.

²² tn Grk “going and nearing Damascus.”

sn En route and near Damascus. This is the first retelling of Paul’s Damascus Road experience in Acts (cf. Acts 9:1-9; the second retelling is in Acts 26:9-20).

²³ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.b has “φῶς a very bright light Ac 22:6.”

²⁴ tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

²⁵ tn Or “shone.”

²⁶ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 24.

²⁷ tn Grk “and said to.”

²⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁹ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

³⁰ tn Grk “He said.”

³¹ sn Ritually purified. Paul’s claim here is that he was honoring the holiness of God by being sensitive to issues of ritual purity. Not only was he not guilty of the charges against him, but he was thoroughly devout.

³² tn BDAG 458 s.v. θόρυβος 3.b has “μετὰ θορύβου…with a disturbance Ac 24:18.”

³³ tn Grk “these [men] themselves.”

³⁴ tn Or “unrighteous act.”

³⁵ tn The words “me guilty of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. L&N 88.23 has “αὐτοὶ οὗτοι εἰπάτωσαν τί εὗρον ἀδίκημα στάντος μου ‘let these men themselves tell what unrighteous act they found me guilty of’ Ac 24:20.”

³⁶ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

³⁷ tn L&N 33.153 s.v. σημαίνω, “to cause something to be both specific and clear – ‘to indicate clearly, to make clear’… ‘for it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without clearly indicating the charges against him’ Ac 25:27.”

sn Without clearly indicating the charges against him. Again the point is made by Festus himself that there is difficulty even in articulating a charge against Paul.

³⁸ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

³⁹ tn Or “In a short time you will make me a Christian.” On the difficulty of the precise nuances of Agrippa’s reply in this passage, see BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.b. The idiom is like 1 Kgs 21:7 LXX. The point is that Paul was trying to persuade Agrippa to accept his message. If Agrippa had let Paul persuade him, he would have converted to Christianity.

sn The question “In such a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?” was probably a ploy on Agrippa’s part to deflect Paul from his call for a decision. Note also how the tables have turned: Agrippa was brought in to hear Paul’s defense, and now ends up defending himself. The questioner is now being questioned.

⁴⁰ tn Grk “of whom I am.” The relative clause with its possessive was translated following L&N 15.86 s.v. παρίσταμαι.

⁴¹ tn Or “worship.”

⁴² tn Or “stood by me.” BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 2.a.α states, “approach, come τινί (to) someone…Ac 9:39; 27:23.”