Acts 3:12-13

3:12 When Peter saw this, he declared to the people, “Men of Israel,¹ why are you amazed at this? Why² do you stare at us as if we had made this man³ walk by our own power or piety? 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,⁴ the God of our forefathers,⁵ has glorified⁶ his servant⁷ Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected⁸ in the presence of Pilate after he had decided⁹ to release him.

Acts 12:22-23

12:22 But the crowd¹⁰ began to shout,¹¹ “The voice of a god,¹² and not of a man!” 12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord¹³ struck¹⁴ Herod¹⁵ down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.¹⁶

Genesis 41:16

41:16 Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “It is not within my power,¹⁷ but God will speak concerning¹⁸ the welfare of Pharaoh.”¹⁹

Daniel 2:28-30

2:28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries,²⁰ and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come.²¹ The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed²² are as follows.

2:29 “As for you, O king, while you were in your bed your thoughts turned to future things.²³ The revealer of mysteries has made known to you what will take place. 2:30 As for me, this mystery was revealed to me not because I possess more wisdom²⁴ than any other living person, but so that the king may understand²⁵ the interpretation and comprehend the thoughts of your mind.²⁶

John 7:18

7:18 The person who speaks on his own authority²⁷ desires²⁸ to receive honor²⁹ for himself; the one who desires³⁰ the honor³¹ of the one who sent him is a man of integrity,³² and there is no unrighteousness in him.

¹tn Or perhaps “People of Israel,” since this was taking place in Solomon’s Portico and women may have been present. The Greek ἄνδρες ᾿Ισραηλῖται (andre" Israhlitai) used in the plural would normally mean “men, gentlemen” (BDAG 79 s.v. ἀνήρ 1.a).

²tn Grk “or why.”

³tn Grk “him”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴tc ‡ 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.

⁵tn Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”

⁶sn Has glorified. Jesus is alive, raised and active, as the healing illustrates so dramatically how God honors him.

⁷sn 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.

⁸tn Or “denied,” “disowned.”

⁹tn This genitive absolute construction could be understood as temporal (“when he had decided”) or concessive (“although he had decided”).

¹⁰tn The translation “crowd” is given by BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος; the word often means a gathering of citizens to conduct public business. Here it is simply the group of people gathered to hear the king’s speech.

¹¹tn The imperfect verb ἐπεφώνει (epefwnei) is taken ingressively in the sequence of events. Presumably the king had started his speech when the crowd began shouting.

¹²sn The voice of a god. Contrast the response of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 14:13-15.

¹³tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

¹⁴sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

¹⁵tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).

¹⁷tn Heb “not within me.”

¹⁸tn Heb “God will answer.”

¹⁹tn The expression שְׁלוֹם פַּרְעֹה (shÿlom par’oh) is here rendered “the welfare of Pharaoh” because the dream will be about life in his land. Some interpret it to mean an answer of “peace” – one that will calm his heart, or give him the answer that he desires (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT).

²⁰tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.

²¹tn Aram “in the latter days.”

²²tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

²³tn Aram “your thoughts upon your bed went up to what will be after this.”

²⁴tn Aram “not for any wisdom which is in me more than [in] any living man.”

²⁵tn Aram “they might cause the king to know.” The impersonal plural is used here to refer to the role of God’s spirit in revealing the dream and its interpretation to the king. As J. A. Montgomery says, “it appropriately here veils the mysterious agency” (Daniel [ICC], 164-65).

²⁶tn Aram “heart.”

²⁷tn Grk “who speaks from himself.”

²⁸tn Or “seeks.”

²⁹tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”

³⁰tn Or “seeks.”

³¹tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”

³²tn Or “is truthful”; Grk “is true.”