Acts 5:17

Further Trouble for the Apostles

5:17 Now the high priest rose up, and all those with him (that is, the religious party of the Sadducees ¹ ), ²  and they were filled with jealousy. ³ 

Acts 15:5

15:5 But some from the religious party of the Pharisees ⁴  who had believed stood up and said, “It is necessary ⁵  to circumcise the Gentiles ⁶  and to order them to observe ⁷  the law of Moses.”

Acts 24:5

24:5 For we have found ⁸  this man to be a troublemaker, ⁹  one who stirs up riots ¹⁰  among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader ¹¹  of the sect of the Nazarenes. ¹² 

Acts 24:14

24:14 But I confess this to you, that I worship ¹³  the God of our ancestors ¹⁴  according to the Way (which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law ¹⁵  and that is written in the prophets.

Acts 26:5

26:5 They know, ¹⁶  because they have known ¹⁷  me from time past, ¹⁸  if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party ¹⁹  of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. ²⁰ 

Acts 28:22

28:22 But we would like to hear from you what you think, for regarding this sect we know ²¹  that people ²²  everywhere speak against ²³  it.”

Galatians 5:20

5:20 idolatry, sorcery, ²⁴  hostilities, ²⁵  strife, ²⁶  jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, ²⁷  factions,

Titus 3:10

3:10 Reject a divisive person after one or two warnings.

¹ sn See the note on Sadducees in 4:1.

² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

³ sn Filled with jealousy. In Acts, the term “jealousy” (ζήλος, zhlos) occurs only here and in Acts 13:45. It is a key term in Judaism for religiously motivated rage (1 Macc 2:24; 1QH 14:13-15; m. Sanhedrin 9:5). It was a zeal motivated by a desire to maintain the purity of the faith.

⁴ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

⁵ sn The Greek word used here (δεῖ, dei) is a strong term that expresses divine necessity. The claim is that God commanded the circumcision of Gentiles.

⁶ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the Gentiles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Or “keep.”

⁸ tn Grk “For having found.” The participle εὑρόντες (Jeurontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁹ tn L&N 22.6 has “(a figurative extension of meaning of λοιμός ‘plague,’ 23.158) one who causes all sorts of trouble – ‘troublemaker, pest.’ … ‘for we have found this man to be a troublemaker” Ac 24:5.”

¹⁰ tn Or “dissensions.” While BDAG 940 s.v. στάσις 3 translates this phrase “κινεῖν στάσεις (v.l. στάσιν) τισί create dissension among certain people Ac 24:5,” it is better on the basis of the actual results of Paul’s ministry to categorize this usage under section 2, “uprising, riot, revolt, rebellion” (cf. the use in Acts 19:40).

¹¹ tn This term is yet another NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 894 s.v. πρωτοστάτης).

¹² sn The sect of the Nazarenes is a designation for followers of Jesus the Nazarene, that is, Christians.

¹³ tn Or “serve.”

¹⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

¹⁵ sn That is, the law of Moses. Paul was claiming that he legitimately worshiped the God of Israel. He was arguing that this amounted to a religious dispute rather than a political one, so that the Roman authorities need not concern themselves with it.

¹⁶ tn These words are repeated from v. 4 (“all the Jews know”). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, it was necessary to begin a new sentence at the beginning of v. 5 in the translation, but for this to make sense, the main verb ἵσασι ({isasi) has to be repeated to connect with the ὅτι (Joti) clause (indirect discourse) in v. 5.

¹⁷ tn Grk “having known me from time past.” The participle προγινώσκοντες (proginwskonte") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

¹⁸ tn BDAG 866 s.v. προγινώσκω 2 has “Know from time past…προγινώσκοντές με ἄνωθεν Ac 26:5.” L&N 28.6 states, “‘they have already known me beforehand, if they are willing to testify’ Ac 26:5.”

¹⁹ tn That is, strictest religious party. “Party” alone is used in the translation because “the strictest religious party of our religion” would be redundant.

²⁰ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

²¹ tn Grk “regarding this sect it is known to us.” The passive construction “it is known to us” has been converted to an active one to simplify the translation.

²² tn Grk “that everywhere it is spoken against.” To simplify the translation the passive construction “it is spoken against” has been converted to an active one with the subject “people” supplied.

²³ tn On the term translated “speak against,” see BDAG 89 s.v. ἀντιλέγω 1.

²⁴ tn Or “witchcraft.”

²⁵ tn Or “enmities,” “[acts of] hatred.”

²⁶ tn Or “discord” (L&N 39.22).

²⁷ tn Or “discord(s)” (L&N 39.13).