Acts 2:23

2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed ¹  by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. ² 

Acts 5:32

5:32 And we are witnesses of these events, ³  and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey ⁴  him.”

Acts 15:20

15:20 but that we should write them a letter ⁵  telling them to abstain ⁶  from things defiled ⁷  by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled ⁸  and from blood.

Acts 26:5

26:5 They know, ⁹  because they have known ¹⁰  me from time past, ¹¹  if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party ¹²  of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. ¹³ 

¹ tn Or “you killed.”

² tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomo") refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.

³ tn Or “things.” They are preaching these things even to the hostile leadership.

⁴ sn Those who obey. The implication, of course, is that the leadership is disobeying God.

⁵ tn The translation “to write a letter, to send a letter to” for ἐπιστέλλω (epistellw) is given in L&N 33.49.

⁶ tn Three of the four prohibitions deal with food (the first, third and fourth) while one prohibition deals with behavior (the second, refraining from sexual immorality). Since these occur in the order they do, the translation “abstain from” is used to cover both sorts of activity (eating food items, immoral behavior).

⁷ tn Or “polluted.”

⁸ sn What has been strangled. That is, to refrain from eating animals that had been killed without having the blood drained from them. According to the Mosaic law (Lev 17:13-14), Jews were forbidden to eat flesh with the blood still in it (note the following provision in Acts 15:20, and from blood).

⁷ tn These words are repeated from v. 4 (“all the Jews know”). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, it was necessary to begin a new sentence at the beginning of v. 5 in the translation, but for this to make sense, the main verb ἵσασι ({isasi) has to be repeated to connect with the ὅτι (Joti) clause (indirect discourse) in v. 5.

⁸ tn Grk “having known me from time past.” The participle προγινώσκοντες (proginwskonte") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

⁹ tn BDAG 866 s.v. προγινώσκω 2 has “Know from time past…προγινώσκοντές με ἄνωθεν Ac 26:5.” L&N 28.6 states, “‘they have already known me beforehand, if they are willing to testify’ Ac 26:5.”

¹⁰ tn That is, strictest religious party. “Party” alone is used in the translation because “the strictest religious party of our religion” would be redundant.

¹¹ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.