Acts 3:12-18

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. 3:14 But you rejected¹⁰ the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you. 3:15 You killed¹¹ the Originator¹² of life, whom God raised¹³ from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses!¹⁴ 3:16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus’¹⁵ name,¹⁶ his very name has made this man – whom you see and know – strong. The¹⁷ faith that is through Jesus¹⁸ has given him this complete health in the presence¹⁹ of you all. 3:17 And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance,²⁰ as your rulers did too. 3:18 But the things God foretold²¹ long ago through²² all the prophets – that his Christ²³ would suffer – he has fulfilled in this way.

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 Or “denied,” “disowned.”

¹¹tn Or “You put to death.”

¹²tn Or “Founder,” “founding Leader.”

¹³sn Whom God raised. God is the main actor here, as he testifies to Jesus and vindicates him.

¹⁴tn 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.

¹⁵tn Grk “in his name”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶sn Here is another example of appeal to the person by mentioning the name. See the note on the word name in 3:6.

¹⁷tn Grk “see and know, and the faith.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation and καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated.

¹⁸tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁹tn Or “in full view.”

²⁰sn The ignorance Peter mentions here does not excuse them from culpability. It was simply a way to say “you did not realize the great mistake you made.”

²¹sn God foretold. Peter’s topic is the working out of God’s plan and promise through events the scriptures also note.

²²tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).

²³tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”