15:1 Now some men came down from Judea 11 and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised 12 according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
1 tn Or “you killed.”
2 tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomo") refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.
3 sn God foretold. Peter’s topic is the working out of God’s plan and promise through events the scriptures also note.
4 tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).
5 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
6 tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.
7 tn Or “purpose,” “will.”
8 tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.
9 sn Who makes these things known. The remark emphasizes how God’s design of these things reaches back to the time he declared them.
10 sn An allusion to Isa 45:21.
11 sn That is, they came down from Judea to Antioch in Syria.
12 tc Codex Bezae (D) and a few other witnesses have “and walk” here (i.e., instead of τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως [tw eqei tw Mwu>sew"] they read καὶ τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως περιπατῆτε [kai tw eqei tw Mwu>sew" peripathte]). This is a decidedly stronger focus on obedience to the Law. As well, D expands vv. 1-5 in various places with the overall effect of being “more sympathetic to the local tradition of the church at Jerusalem” while the Alexandrian witnesses are more sympathetic to Paul (TCGNT 377). Codex D is well known for having a significantly longer text in Acts, but modern scholarship is generally of the opinion that the text of D expands on the original wording of Acts, with a theological viewpoint that especially puts Peter in a more authoritarian light. The expansion in these five verses is in keeping with that motif even though Peter is not explicitly in view.
13 tn The referent of “this man” (Judas) was specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Traditionally, “with the reward of his wickedness.”
15 tn Traditionally, “falling headlong.”
16 tn Or “all his bowels.”
17 tn Grk “And this.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
18 sn Their own language refers to Aramaic, the primary language spoken in Palestine in Jesus’ day.
19 tn Grk “that field was called.” The passive voice has been converted to active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.
20 tn Or “uninhabited” or “empty.”
21 sn A quotation from Ps 69:25.
22 tn Or “Let another take his office.”
23 tn Grk “it”; the referent (the beast) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24 tn The prepositional phrase “since the foundation of the world” is traditionally translated as a modifier of the immediately preceding phrase in the Greek text, “the Lamb who was killed” (so also G. B. Caird, Revelation [HNTC], 168), but it is more likely that the phrase “since the foundation of the world” modifies the verb “written” (as translated above). Confirmation of this can be found in Rev 17:8 where the phrase “written in the book of life since the foundation of the world” occurs with no ambiguity.
25 tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”