Acts 5:28

5:28 saying, “We gave ¹  you strict orders ²  not to teach in this name. ³  Look, ⁴  you have filled Jerusalem ⁵  with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood ⁶  on us!”

Acts 17:7

17:7 and ⁷  Jason has welcomed them as guests! They ⁸  are all acting against Caesar’s ⁹  decrees, saying there is another king named ¹⁰  Jesus!” ¹¹ 

¹ tc ‡ The majority of mss, including a few important witnesses (א² D E [Ψ] 1739 Ï sy sa), have the negative particle οὐ (ou) here, effectively turning the high priest’s words into a question: “Did we not give you strict orders not to teach in this name?” But the earliest and most important mss, along with some others (Ì⁷⁴ א* A B 1175 lat bo), lack the particle, making this a strong statement rather than a question. Scribes may have been tempted to omit the particle to strengthen the contrast between official Judaism and the new faith, but the fact that v. 27 introduces the quotation with ἐπηρώτησεν (ephrwthsen, “he questioned”) may well have prompted scribes to add οὐ to convert the rebuke into a question. Further, that excellent witnesses affirm the shorter reading is sufficient ground for accepting it as most probably authentic. NA²⁷ includes the particle in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

² tn Grk “We commanded you with a commandment” (a Semitic idiom that is emphatic).

³ sn The name (i.e., person) of Jesus is the constant issue of debate.

⁴ tn Grk “And behold.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁶ sn To bring this man’s blood on us is an idiom meaning “you intend to make us guilty of this man’s death.”

⁷ tn Grk “whom.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who have stirred up trouble…whom Jason has welcomed”) the relative pronoun here (“whom”) has been replaced by the conjunction “and,” creating a clause that is grammatically coordinate but logically subordinate in the translation.

⁸ tn Grk “and they.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

⁹ tn Or “the emperor’s” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

¹⁰ tn The word “named” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.

¹¹ sn Acting…saying…Jesus. The charges are serious, involving sedition (Luke 23:2). If the political charges were true, Rome would have to react.