13:20 Now may the God of peace who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ,
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 tc ‡ The repetition of ὁ θεός (Jo qeos, “God”) before the names of Isaac and Jacob is found in Ì74 א C (A D without article) 36 104 1175 pc lat. The omission of the second and third ὁ θεός is supported by B E Ψ 33 1739 Ï pc. The other time that Exod 3:6 is quoted in Acts (7:32) the best witnesses also lack the repeated ὁ θεός, but the three other times this OT passage is quoted in the NT the full form, with the thrice-mentioned θεός, is used (Matt 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37). Scribes would be prone to conform the wording here to the LXX; the longer reading is thus most likely not authentic. NA27 has the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.
7 tn Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”
8 sn Has glorified. Jesus is alive, raised and active, as the healing illustrates so dramatically how God honors him.
9 sn His servant. The term servant has messianic connotations given the context of the promise, the note of suffering, and the titles and functions noted in vv. 14-15.
10 tn Or “denied,” “disowned.”
11 tn This genitive absolute construction could be understood as temporal (“when he had decided”) or concessive (“although he had decided”).
12 tn Or “You put to death.”
13 tn Or “Founder,” “founding Leader.”
14 sn Whom God raised. God is the main actor here, as he testifies to Jesus and vindicates him.
15 tn Grk “whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” The two consecutive relative clauses make for awkward English style, so the second was begun as a new sentence with the words “to this fact” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun to make a complete sentence in English.
16 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”).
17 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.
18 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.
19 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
20 tn Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”
21 tn Or “by crucifying him” (“hang on a tree” is by the time of the first century an idiom for crucifixion). The allusion is to the judgment against Jesus as a rebellious figure, appealing to the language of Deut 21:23. The Jewish leadership has badly “misjudged” Jesus.
22 tn Grk “This one God exalted” (emphatic).
23 tn Or “Founder” (of a movement).
24 tn Or “to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.”
25 tn The conjunction “but” is not in the Greek text, but the contrast is clearly implied in the context. This is technically asyndeton, or lack of a connective, in Greek.
26 tn Grk “and granted that he should become visible.” The literal Greek idiom is somewhat awkward in English. L&N 24.22 offers the translation “caused him to be seen” for this verse.
27 tn Or “fixed.”
28 sn The world refers to the whole inhabited earth.
29 tn Or “appointed.” BDAG 723 s.v. ὁρίζω 2.b has “of persons appoint, designate, declare: God judges the world ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισεν through a man whom he has appointed Ac 17:31.”
30 tn The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") indicates means here.
31 tn The verb here is passive (ἠγέρθη, hgerqh). This “divine passive” (see ExSyn 437-38) points to the fact that Jesus was raised by God.
32 tc Expansions on the text, especially when the Lord is the subject, are a common scribal activity. In this instance, since the subject is embedded in the verb, three major variants have emerged to make the subject explicit: ὁ κύριος (Jo kurio", “the Lord”; A C D L W 0148 Ë1,13 Ï lat), τὸ σῶμα τοῦ κυρίου (to swma tou kuriou, “the body of the Lord”; 1424 pc), and ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”; Φ). The reading with no explicit subject, however, is superior on both internal and external grounds, being supported by א B Θ 33 892* pc co.
33 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
34 tn The imperative here is really more than a simple conditional imperative (= “if you destroy”); its semantic force here is more like the ironical imperative found in the prophets (Amos 4:4, Isa 8:9) = “Go ahead and do this and see what happens.”
35 tn Grk “Because of this the Father loves me.”
36 tn Or “die willingly.”