Discovery BoxActs 7:42 
Context7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over 1 to worship the host 2 of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices 3 forty years in the wilderness, was it, 4 house of Israel?
Acts 28:23
Context28:23 They set 5 a day to meet with him, 6 and they came to him where he was staying 7 in even greater numbers. 8 From morning until evening he explained things 9 to them, 10 testifying 11 about the kingdom of God 12 and trying to convince 13 them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets.
1 sn The expression and gave them over suggests similarities to the judgment on the nations described by Paul in Rom 1:18-32.
2 tn Or “stars.”
sn To worship the hosts of heaven. Their action violated Deut 4:19; 17:2-5. See Ps 106:36-43.
3 tn The two terms for sacrifices “semantically reinforce one another and are here combined essentially for emphasis” (L&N 53.20).
4 tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question, “was it?”
5 tn Grk “Having set.” The participle ταξάμενοι (taxamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
6 tn Grk “Having set a day with him”; the words “to meet” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
7 tn Or “came to him in his rented quarters.”
8 tn BDAG 848 s.v. πολύς 1.b.β.ב states, “(even) more πλείονες in even greater numbers Ac 28:23.”
9 tn The word “things” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
10 tn Grk “to whom he explained.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation.
11 tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 1 has “to make a solemn declaration about the truth of someth. testify of, bear witness to (orig. under oath)…God’s kingdom 28:23.”
12 sn Testifying about the kingdom of God. The topic is important. Paul’s preaching was about the rule of God and his promise in Jesus. Paul’s text was the Jewish scriptures.
13 tn Or “persuade.”
