105:6 O children 32 of Abraham, 33 God’s 34 servant,
you descendants 35 of Jacob, God’s 36 chosen ones!
147:19 He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and regulations to Israel.
147:20 He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!
41:8 “You, my servant Israel,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend, 37
48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, 38
you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’
and are descended from Judah, 39
who take oaths in the name of the Lord,
and invoke 40 the God of Israel –
but not in an honest and just manner. 41
51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, 42
who seek the Lord!
Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,
at the quarry 43 from which you were dug! 44
51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who gave you birth. 45
When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, 46
but I blessed him 47 and gave him numerous descendants. 48
1 sn After the reading from the law and the prophets. In the 1st century Jewish synagogue, it was customary after the reading of the Torah (law) and prophets for men to give exhortation from the scriptures.
2 tn Normally ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93). Since the term is plural here, however, and it would sound strange to the English reader to speak of “the presidents of the synagogue,” the alternative translation “leaders” is used. “Rulers” would also be acceptable, but does not convey quite the same idea.
3 tn Grk “sent to them”; the word “message” is an understood direct object. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
4 tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.
5 tn Or “word.”
6 tn Or “encouragement.”
7 tn Or “give it.”
8 tn Or “people of Israel.”
9 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
10 tn That is, in both numbers and in power. The implication of greatness in both numbers and in power is found in BDAG 1046 s.v. ὑψόω 2.
11 tn Or “as resident aliens.”
12 tn Or “land.”
13 sn Here uplifted arm is a metaphor for God’s power by which he delivered the Israelites from Egypt. See Exod 6:1, 6; 32:11; Deut 3:24; 4:34; Ps 136:11-12.
15 tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.
16 tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.
17 tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”
18 tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.
19 sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.
22 tn Grk “God raising up his servant, sent him.” The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Some translations (e.g., NIV, NRSV) render this participle as temporal (“when God raised up his servant”).
23 sn The picture of turning is again seen as the appropriate response to the message. See v. 19 above. In v. 19 it was “turning to,” here it is “turning away from.” The direction of the two metaphors is important.
24 tn For the translation of plural πονηρία (ponhria) as “iniquities,” see G. Harder, TDNT 6:565. The plural is important, since for Luke turning to Jesus means turning away from sins, not just the sin of rejecting Jesus.
29 tn Or “crippled.”
30 tn Grk “from his mother’s womb.”
31 tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.
32 tn Grk “alms.” The term “alms” is not in common use today, so what the man expected, “money,” is used in the translation instead. The idea is that of money given as a gift to someone who was poor. Giving alms was viewed as honorable in Judaism (Tob 1:3, 16; 12:8-9; m. Pe’ah 1:1). See also Luke 11:41; 12:33; Acts 9:36; 10:2, 4, 31; 24:17.
33 tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.
36 sn On the first day. This is the first mention of a Sunday gathering (1 Cor 16:2).
37 tn Or “assembled.”
38 tn The verb διαλέγομαι (dialegomai) is frequently used of Paul addressing Jews in the synagogue. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21. In the context of a Christian gathering, it is preferable to translate διελέγετο (dielegeto) simply as “speak” here. The imperfect verb διελέγετο has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
39 tn BDAG 628 s.v. μέλλω 1.c.γ has “denoting an intended action: intend, propose, have in mind…Ac 17:31; 20:3, 7, 13ab; 23:15; 26:2; 27:30.”
40 tn Or “prolonged.”
43 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
44 tc Some
45 tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
46 tn Heb “sons.”
47 tn Heb “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
50 tn Or perhaps, “covenantal partner” (see 1 Kgs 5:15 HT [5:1 ET]; 2 Chr 20:7).
57 tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”
58 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a corruption of מִמְּעֵי (mimmÿ’e, “from the inner parts of”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV) as suggested in the above translation. Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading because the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.
59 tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”
60 tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”
64 tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “justice”; NLT “hope for deliverance.”
65 tn Heb “the excavation of the hole.”
66 sn The “rock” and “quarry” refer here to Abraham and Sarah, the progenitors of the nation.
71 sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.
72 tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”
73 tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.
74 tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”
78 tn Grk “But go.” The Greek μᾶλλον (mallon, “rather, instead”) conveys the adversative nuance here so that δέ (de) has not been translated.
85 sn This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.
86 tn Or “preached,” “announced.”
87 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.
88 sn Beginning from Jerusalem. See Acts 2, which is where it all starts.