Acts 2:24

2:24 But God raised him up, ¹  having released ²  him from the pains ³  of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power. ⁴ 

Acts 2:32

2:32 This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it. ⁵ 

Matthew 28:2-5

28:2 Suddenly there was a severe earthquake, for an angel of the Lord ⁶  descending from heaven came and rolled away the stone and sat on it. 28:3 His ⁷  appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 28:4 The ⁸  guards were shaken and became like dead men because they were so afraid of him. 28:5 But the angel said ⁹  to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know ¹⁰  that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ¹¹ 

Ephesians 1:20

1:20 This power ¹²  he exercised ¹³  in Christ when he raised him ¹⁴  from the dead and seated him ¹⁵  at his right hand in the heavenly realms ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Grk “Whom God raised up.”

² tn Or “having freed.”

³ sn The term translated pains is frequently used to describe pains associated with giving birth (see Rev 12:2). So there is irony here in the mixed metaphor.

⁴ tn Or “for him to be held by it” (in either case, “it” refers to death’s power).

⁵ tn Or “of him”; Grk “of which [or whom] we are all witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

⁶ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20.

⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁹ tn Grk “But answering, the angel said.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

¹⁰ tn Grk “for I know.”

¹¹ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

¹² tn Grk “which” (v. 20 is a subordinate clause to v. 19).

¹³ tn The verb “exercised” (the aorist of ἐνεργέω, energew) has its nominal cognate in “exercise” in v. 19 (ἐνέργεια, energeia).

¹⁴ tn Or “This power he exercised in Christ by raising him”; Grk “raising him.” The adverbial participle ἐγείρας (egeiras) could be understood as temporal (“when he raised [him]”), which would be contemporaneous to the action of the finite verb “he exercised” earlier in the verse, or as means (“by raising [him]”). The participle has been translated here with the temporal nuance to allow for means to also be a possible interpretation. If the translation focused instead upon means, the temporal nuance would be lost as the time frame for the action of the participle would become indistinct.

¹⁵ tc The majority of mss, especially the Western and Byzantine mss (D F G Ψ Ï b r Ambst), have the indicative ἐκάθισεν (ekaqisen, “he seated”) for καθίσας (kaqisa", “when he seated, by seating”). The indicative is thus coordinate with ἐνήργησεν (enhrghsen, “he exercised”) and provides an additional statement to “he exercised his power.” The participle (found in Ì^92vid א A B 0278 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 2464 al), on the other hand, is coordinate with ἐγείρας (egeiras) and as such provides evidence of God’s power: He exercised his power by raising Christ from the dead and by seating him at his right hand. As intriguing as the indicative reading is, it is most likely an intentional alteration of the original wording, accomplished by an early “Western” scribe, which made its way in the Byzantine text.

¹⁶ sn Eph 1:19-20. The point made in these verses is that the power required to live a life pleasing to God is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. For a similar thought, cf. John 15:1-11.