7:35 Then the Jewish leaders 10 said to one another, “Where is he 11 going to go that we cannot find him? 12 He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed 13 among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? 14
1 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”).
2 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.
3 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.
4 tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.
5 tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.
6 tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”
7 tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.
8 sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.
9 tn Grk “But go.” The Greek μᾶλλον (mallon, “rather, instead”) conveys the adversative nuance here so that δέ (de) has not been translated.
10 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase is understood to refer to the Jewish authorities or leaders, since the Jewish leaders are mentioned in this context both before and after the present verse (7:32, 45).
11 tn Grk “this one.”
12 tn Grk “will not find him.”
13 sn The Jewish people dispersed (Grk “He is not going to the Diaspora”). The Greek term diaspora (“dispersion”) originally meant those Jews not living in Palestine, but dispersed or scattered among the Gentiles.
14 tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “is he?”).