Acts 10:2

10:2 He ¹  was a devout, God-fearing man, ²  as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people ³  and prayed to God regularly.

Acts 10:22

10:22 They said, “Cornelius the centurion, ⁴  a righteous ⁵  and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, ⁶  was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message ⁷  from you.”

¹ tn In the Greek text this represents a continuation of the previous sentence. Because of the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

² sn The description of Cornelius as a devout, God-fearing man probably means that he belonged to the category called “God-fearers,” Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 43-44, and Sir 11:17; 27:11; 39:27.

³ tn Or “gave many gifts to the poor.” This was known as “giving alms,” or acts of mercy (Sir 7:10; BDAG 315-16 s.v. ἐλεημοσύνη).

⁴ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

⁵ tn Or “just.”

⁶ tn The phrase τοῦ ἔθνους τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (tou eqnou" twn Ioudaiwn) is virtually a technical term for the Jewish nation (1 Macc 10:25; 11:30, 33; Josephus, Ant. 14.10.22 [14.248]). “All the Jewish people,” while another possible translation of the Greek phrase, does not convey the technical sense of a reference to the nation in English.

⁷ tn Grk “hear words.”