Acts 15:4-6

15:4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received ¹  by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported ²  all the things God had done with them. ³  15:5 But some from the religious party of the Pharisees ⁴  who had believed stood up and said, “It is necessary ⁵  to circumcise the Gentiles ⁶  and to order them to observe ⁷  the law of Moses.”

15:6 Both the apostles and the elders met together to deliberate ⁸  about this matter.

Acts 21:20-22

21:20 When they heard this, they praised ⁹  God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews ¹⁰  there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers ¹¹  of the law. ¹²  21:21 They have been informed about you – that you teach all the Jews now living ¹³  among the Gentiles to abandon ¹⁴  Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children ¹⁵  or live ¹⁶  according to our customs. 21:22 What then should we do? They will no doubt ¹⁷  hear that you have come.

Acts 21:1

Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem

21:1 After ¹⁸  we ¹⁹  tore ourselves away ²⁰  from them, we put out to sea, ²¹  and sailing a straight course, ²²  we came to Cos, ²³  on the next day to Rhodes, ²⁴  and from there to Patara. ²⁵ 

Colossians 1:4

1:4 since ²⁶  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Colossians 1:18

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ²⁷  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ²⁸ 

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ²⁹  without shifting ³⁰  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

¹ tn BDAG 761 s.v. παραδέχομαι 2 has “receive, accept” for the meaning here.

² tn Or “announced.”

³ tn “They reported all the things God had done with them” – an identical phrase occurs in Acts 14:27. God is always the agent.

⁴ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

⁵ sn The Greek word used here (δεῖ, dei) is a strong term that expresses divine necessity. The claim is that God commanded the circumcision of Gentiles.

⁶ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the Gentiles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Or “keep.”

⁸ tn The translation for ἰδεῖν (idein) in this verse is given by BDAG 279-80 s.v. εἶδον 3 as “deliberate concerning this matter.” A contemporary idiom would be to “look into” a matter.

⁹ tn Or “glorified.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “how many thousands there are among the Jews.”

¹¹ tn Or “are all zealous for the law.” BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.β has “of thing…τοῦ νόμου an ardent observer of the law Ac 21:20.”

¹² sn That is, the law of Moses. These Jewish Christians had remained close to their Jewish practices after becoming believers (1 Cor 7:18-19; Acts 16:3).

¹³ tn BDAG 511 s.v. κατά B.1.a has “τοὺς κ. τὰ ἔθνη ᾿Ιουδαίους the Judeans (dispersed) throughout the nations 21:21.” The Jews in view are not those in Palestine, but those who are scattered throughout the Gentile world.

¹⁴ tn Or “to forsake,” “to rebel against.” BDAG 120 s.v. ἀποστασία has “ἀποστασίαν διδάσκεις ἀπὸ Μωϋσέως you teach (Judeans) to abandon Moses Ac 21:21.”

¹⁵ sn That is, not to circumcise their male children. Biblical references to circumcision always refer to male circumcision.

¹⁶ tn Grk “or walk.”

¹⁷ tn L&N 71.16 has “pertaining to being in every respect certain – ‘certainly, really, doubtless, no doubt.’…‘they will no doubt hear that you have come’ Ac 21:22.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “It happened that when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Since the action described by the participle ἀποσπασθέντας (apospasqenta", “tearing ourselves away”) is prior to the departure of the ship, it has been translated as antecedent action (“after”).

¹⁹ sn This marks the beginning of another “we” section in Acts. These have been traditionally understood to mean that Luke was in the company of Paul for this part of the journey.

²⁰ tn BDAG 120 s.v. ἀποσπάω 2.b has “pass. in mid. sense ἀ. ἀπό τινος tear oneself away Ac 21:1”; LSJ 218 gives several illustrations of this verb meaning “to tear or drag away from.”

²¹ tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”

²² tn BDAG 406 s.v. εὐθυδρομέω has “of a ship run a straight course”; L&N 54.3 has “to sail a straight course, sail straight to.”

²³ sn Cos was an island in the Aegean Sea.

²⁴ sn Rhodes was an island off the southwestern coast of Asia Minor.

²⁵ sn Patara was a city in Lycia on the southwestern coast of Asia Minor. The entire journey was about 185 mi (295 km).

²⁶ tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).

²⁷ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

²⁸ tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”

²⁹ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

³⁰ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.