² tn Or “administration,” “dispensation,” “commission.”

¹ sn Who prayed. The prayer indicates their acceptance and commissioning for ministry (cf. Deut 34:9).

¹ sn I have not come is another commission statement by Jesus; see 4:43-44.

⁵ sn Jesus was sent by God for this purpose. This is the language of divine commission.

² tn Here δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary”) indicates divine commission (cf. Luke 2:49).

² tn Heb “but it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds in what I commission it with.”

¹ sn The Lord’s special servant, introduced in chap. 42, speaks here of his commission.

⁴ sn Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Here someone who is not an apostle (Ananias) commissions another person with the Spirit.

³ tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is probably both the Jews (“your own people”) and the Gentiles, indicating the comprehensive commission Paul received.

² 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.

¹³ tn Heb “away from the presence of the Lord.” See note on the phrase “from the commission of the Lord” in v. 3a.

² sn The question is purely rhetorical; it does not imply that the servant was dissatisfied with his commission or that he minimized the restoration of Israel.

¹ sn The apostles Barnabas and Paul. This is one of only two places where Luke calls Paul an apostle, and the description here is shared with Barnabas. This is a nontechnical use here, referring to a commissioned messenger.

³ sn The placing of hands on Barnabas and Saul (traditionally known as “the laying on of hands”) refers to an act picturing the commission of God and the church for the task at hand.

¹ sn “To send out” is often a term of divine commission in Luke: 1:19; 4:18, 43; 7:27; 9:48; 10:1, 16; 11:49; 13:34; 24:49.

¹ sn In v. 10 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 7. He claims that Hezekiah has offended the Lord and that the Lord has commissioned Assyria as his instrument of discipline and judgment.

² sn In v. 25 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 22. He claims that Hezekiah has offended the Lord and that the Lord has commissioned Assyria as his instrument of discipline and judgment.

¹ sn In light of Saul’s commission to be Israel’s deliverer (see v. 1), it is likely that some type of military action against the Philistines (see v.5) is implied.

¹ sn God sent me. The repetition of this theme that God sent Joseph is reminiscent of commission narratives in which the leader could announce that God sent him (e.g., Exod 3:15).

⁵ tn The infinitives in v. 16b are most naturally understood as indicating the purpose of the divine actions described in v. 16a. The relationship of the third infinitive to the commission is clear enough—the Lord has made the addressee (his special servant?) his spokesman so that the latter might speak encouraging words to those in Zion. But how do the first two infinitives relate? The text seems to indicate that the Lord has commissioned the addressee so that the latter might create the universe! Perhaps creation imagery is employed metaphorically here to refer to the transformation that Jerusalem will experience (see 65:17-18).