Acts 1:3

1:3 To the same apostles ¹  also, after his suffering, ²  he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a forty-day period ³  and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God.

Acts 11:20

11:20 But there were some men from Cyprus ⁴  and Cyrene ⁵  among them who came ⁶  to Antioch ⁷  and began to speak to the Greeks ⁸  too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 20:21

20:21 testifying ⁹  to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. ¹⁰ 

Acts 20:25

20:25 “And now ¹¹  I know that none ¹²  of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom ¹³  will see me ¹⁴  again.

Acts 28:31

28:31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ ¹⁵  with complete boldness ¹⁶  and without restriction. ¹⁷ 

Luke 9:2

9:2 and he sent ¹⁸  them out to proclaim ¹⁹  the kingdom of God ²⁰  and to heal the sick. ²¹ 

Luke 9:60

9:60 But Jesus ²²  said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, ²³  but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ²⁴ 

¹ tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn After his suffering is a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion and the abuse which preceded it.

³ tn Grk “during forty days.” The phrase “over a forty-day period” is used rather than “during forty days” because (as the other NT accounts of Jesus’ appearances make clear) Jesus was not continually visible to the apostles during the forty days, but appeared to them on various occasions.

⁴ sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

⁵ sn Cyrene was a city on the northern African coast west of Egypt.

⁶ tn Grk “among them, coming to Antioch began to speak.” The participle ἐλθόντες (elqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁷ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

⁸ sn The statement that some men from Cyprus and Cyrene…began to speak to the Greeks shows that Peter’s experience of reaching out to the Gentiles was not unique.

⁹ tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 1 has “testify of, bear witness to (orig. under oath)…of repentance to Judeans and Hellenes Ac 20:21.”

¹⁰ tc Several mss, including some of the more important ones (Ì⁷⁴ א Α C [D] E 33 36 323 945 1175 1241 1505 1739 pm and a number of versions), read Χριστόν (Criston, “Christ”) at the end of this verse. This word is lacking in B H L P Ψ 614 pm. Although the inclusion is supported by many earlier and better mss, internal evidence is on the side of the omission: In Acts, both “Lord Jesus” and “Lord Jesus Christ” occur, though between 16:31 and the end of the book “Lord Jesus Christ” appears only in 28:31, perhaps as a kind of climactic assertion. Thus, the shorter reading is to be preferred.

¹¹ tn Grk “And now, behold.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

¹² tn Grk “all of you…will not see.” Greek handles its negation somewhat differently from English, and the translation follows English grammatical conventions.

¹³ sn Note how Paul’s usage of the expression proclaiming the kingdom is associated with (and intertwined with) his testifying to the good news of God’s grace in v. 24. For Paul the two concepts were interrelated.

¹⁴ tn Grk “will see my face” (an idiom for seeing someone in person).

¹⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

¹⁶ tn Or “openness.”

¹⁷ sn Proclaiming…with complete boldness and without restriction. Once again Paul’s imprisonment is on benevolent terms. The word of God is proclaimed triumphantly and boldly in Rome. Acts ends with this note: Despite all the attempts to stop it, the message goes forth.

¹⁸ 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.

¹⁹ tn Or “to preach.”

²⁰ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

²¹ sn As Jesus’ own ministry (Luke 4:16-44) involved both word (to proclaim) and deed (to heal) so also would that of the disciples.

²² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²³ sn There are several options for the meaning of Jesus’ reply Leave the dead to bury their own dead: (1) Recent research suggests that burial customs in the vicinity of Jerusalem from about 20 b.c. to a.d. 70 involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box known as an ossuary to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In 1st century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4). (2) The remark is an idiom (possibly a proverbial saying) that means, “The matter in question is not the real issue,” in which case Jesus was making a wordplay on the wording of the man’s (literal) request (see L&N 33.137). (3) This remark could be a figurative reference to various kinds of people, meaning, “Let the spiritually dead bury the dead.” (4) It could also be literal and designed to shock the hearer by the surprise of the contrast. Whichever option is preferred, it is clear that the most important priority is to preach the gospel (proclaim the kingdom of God).

²⁴ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.