Acts 1:8

1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts ¹  of the earth.”

Acts 1:22

1:22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day he ²  was taken up from us – one of these must become a witness of his resurrection together with us.”

Acts 10:39-41

10:39 We ³  are witnesses of all the things he did both in Judea ⁴  and in Jerusalem. ⁵  They ⁶  killed him by hanging him on a tree, ⁷  10:40 but ⁸  God raised him up on the third day and caused him to be seen, ⁹  10:41 not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had already chosen, ¹⁰  who ate and drank ¹¹  with him after he rose from the dead.

Acts 23:11

23:11 The following night the Lord ¹²  stood near ¹³  Paul ¹⁴  and said, “Have courage, ¹⁵  for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, ¹⁶  so you must also testify in Rome.” ¹⁷ 

Acts 26:16-18

26:16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance ¹⁸  as a servant and witness ¹⁹  to the things ²⁰  you have seen ²¹  and to the things in which I will appear to you. 26:17 I will rescue ²²  you from your own people ²³  and from the Gentiles, to whom ²⁴  I am sending you 26:18 to open their eyes so that they turn ²⁵  from darkness to light and from the power ²⁶  of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share ²⁷  among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Acts 27:24

27:24 and said, ²⁸  ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before ²⁹  Caesar, ³⁰  and God has graciously granted you the safety ³¹  of all who are sailing with you.’

Luke 24:47-48

24:47 and repentance ³²  for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ³³  in his name to all nations, ³⁴  beginning from Jerusalem. ³⁵  24:48 You are witnesses ³⁶  of these things.

John 15:27

15:27 and you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

¹ tn Or “to the ends.”

² tn Here the pronoun “he” refers to Jesus.

³ tn Grk “And we.” 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.

⁴ tn Grk “the land of the Jews,” but this is similar to the phrase used as the name of the province of Judea in 1 Macc 8:3 (see BDAG 1093-94 s.v. χώρα 2.b).

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

⁶ tn Grk “in Jerusalem, whom they killed.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “him” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.

⁷ tn Or “by crucifying him” (“hang on a tree” is by the time of the 1st century an idiom for crucifixion). The allusion is to the judgment against Jesus as a rebellious figure, appealing to the language of Deut 21:23. The Jewish leadership has badly “misjudged” Jesus.

⁸ tn The conjunction “but” is not in the Greek text, but the contrast is clearly implied in the context. This is technically asyndeton, or lack of a connective, in Greek.

⁹ tn Grk “and granted that he should become visible.” The literal Greek idiom is somewhat awkward in English. L&N 24.22 offers the translation “caused him to be seen” for this verse.

¹⁰ tn Or “the witnesses God had previously chosen.” See Acts 1:8.

¹¹ sn Ate and drank. See Luke 24:35-49.

¹² sn The presence of the Lord indicated the vindicating presence and direction of God.

¹³ tn Grk “standing near Paul, said.” The participle ἐπιστάς (epistas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Or “Do not be afraid.”

¹⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁷ sn Like Jesus went to Jerusalem, Paul would now go to Rome. This trip forms the concluding backdrop to Acts. This is the second notice about going to Rome (see Acts 19:21 for the first).

¹⁸ tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance.’”

¹⁹ 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.

²⁰ tn BDAG 719 s.v. ὁράω A.1.b states, “W. attraction of the relative ὧν = τούτων ἅ Lk 9:36; Ac 22:15. The attraction may be due to colloq. breviloquence in μάρτυρα ὧν τε εἶδες με ὧν τε ὀφθήσομαί σοι a witness to the things in which you saw me and to those in which I shall appear to you Ac 26:16b.”

²¹ tc ‡ Some mss read “of the things in which you have seen me.” The accusative object με (me, “me”) is found after εἶδές (eide") in B C*^vid 614 945 1175 1505 1739 1891 2464 pc sy sa; it is lacking in Ì⁷⁴ א A C² E Ψ 096 Ï latt bo. The external evidence is relatively evenly divided, though there is a slight preference for the omission. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

²² tn Grk “rescuing.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle ἐξαιρούμενος (exairoumeno") has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 17.

²³ tn That is, from the Jewish people. Grk “the people”; the words “your own” have been supplied to clarify the meaning.

²⁴ tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is probably both the Jews (“your own people”) and the Gentiles, indicating the comprehensive commission Paul received.

²⁵ sn To open their eyes so that they turn… Here is Luke’s most comprehensive report of Paul’s divine calling. His role was to call humanity to change their position before God and experience God’s forgiveness as a part of God’s family. The image of turning is a key one in the NT: Luke 1:79; Rom 2:19; 13:12; 2 Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col 1:12; 1 Thess 5:5. See also Luke 1:77-79; 3:3; 24:47.

²⁶ tn BDAG 352-53 s.v. ἐξουσία 2 states, “Also of Satan’s power Ac 26:18.” It is also possible to translate this “the domain of Satan” (cf. BDAG 353 s.v. 6)

²⁷ tn Or “and an inheritance.”

²⁸ tn Grk “came to me saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

²⁹ tn BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 2.a.α states, “Also as a t.t. of legal usage appear before, come before…Καίσαρι σε δεῖ παραστῆναι you must stand before the Emperor (as judge) Ac 27:24.” See Acts 23:11. Luke uses the verb δεῖ (dei) to describe what must occur.

³⁰ tn Or “before the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

³¹ tn Grk “God has graciously granted you all who are sailing with you.” The words “the safety of” have been supplied to clarify the meaning of the verb κεχάρισται (kecaristai) in this context.

³² sn This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.

³³ tn Or “preached,” “announced.”

³⁴ sn To all nations. The same Greek term (τὰ ἔθνη, ta eqnh) may be translated “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” The hope of God in Christ was for all the nations from the beginning.

³⁵ sn Beginning from Jerusalem. See Acts 2, which is where it all starts.

³⁶ sn You are witnesses. This becomes a key concept of testimony in Acts. See Acts 1:8.