² tn Heb “the remainder in the blood.” The preposition ב (bet, “in”) is used here to mean “some among” a whole collection of something.

⁴ tn The whole clause reads more literally, “A human being (אָדָם, ʾadam), if he brings from among you an offering to the Lord.”

⁴ tn Heb “and every firstborn of man among your sons.” The addition of “man” is clearly meant to distinguish firstborn humans from animals.

¹ tn Heb “draw out and take.” The verb has in view the need “to draw out” a lamb or goat selected from among the rest of the flock.

² tc The MT reads “he opened all that was in [or “among”] them.” The translation follows the reading of the LXX and Syriac versions.

¹ tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”

³ tn The meaning of the genitive participle προσκαρτερούντων (proskarterountōn) could either be “a soldier from the ranks of those who served him” (referring to his entire command) or “a soldier from among his personal staff” (referring to a group of soldiers who were his personal attendants). The translation “from among those who served him” is general enough to cover either possibility.

² tn Grk “the Lord Jesus went in and out among us.” According to BDAG 294 s.v. εἰσέρχομαι 1.b.β, “ἐν παντὶ χρόνῳ ᾧ εἰσῆλθεν καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς went in and out among us = associated with us Ac 1:21.”

² tc Heb “sons.” The MT reads בַבָּנִים (vabbanim) “among the sons,” perhaps meaning “young men” (cf. Song 2:3; HALOT 138, s. v. I בֵּן). Based on the Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate, perhaps the text should read בַנְבָלִים (van^evalim, “among the fools”).

¹ tn Heb “under wicked men,” or “under wickednesses.” J. C. Greenfield shows that the preposition can mean “among” as well (“Prepositions B Tachat in Jes 57:5, ” ZAW 32 [1961]: 227). That would allow “among wicked men.” It could also be “instead of” or even “in return for [their wickedness]” which is what the RSV does.

⁴ tc There are many variations in the spelling of this name among the Greek mss, although ῾Αρμαγεδών (harmagedōn) has the best support. The usual English spelling is Armageddon, used in the translation.

² sn The infiltration referred to by the phrase slipped in among you was predicted by Peter (2 Pet 2:1), Paul (e.g., Acts 20:29-30), and OT prophets.

³ tn Grk “just as you know what sort of people we were among you for your sakes.” Verse 5 reflects on the experience of Paul and his fellow preachers; v. 6 begins to describe the Thessalonians’ response.

¹ sn So that we may do them. Before the devil began to control our walk in sin and among sinful people, God had already planned good works for us to do.

³ sn Some were convinced…but others refused to believe. Once again the gospel caused division among Jews, as in earlier chapters of Acts (13:46; 18:6).

¹ sn Would give him money. That is, would offer him a bribe in exchange for his release. Such practices were fairly common among Roman officials of the period (Josephus, Ant. 2.12.3 [2.272-274]).

³ tn Grk “among whom.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been translated as a third person plural pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

¹ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

¹ sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.

⁴ sn The Jewish people dispersed (Grk “He is not going to the Diaspora”). The Greek term diaspora (“dispersion”) originally meant those Jews not living in Palestine, but dispersed or scattered among the Gentiles.