6:1 Now in those 7 days, when the disciples were growing in number, 8 a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews 9 against the native Hebraic Jews, 10 because their widows 11 were being overlooked 12 in the daily distribution of food. 13 6:2 So the twelve 14 called 15 the whole group 16 of the disciples together and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables. 17 6:3 But carefully select from among you, brothers, 18 seven 19 men who are well-attested, 20 full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge 21 of this necessary task. 22 6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 6:5 The 23 proposal pleased the entire group, so 24 they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with 25 Philip, 26 Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism 27 from Antioch. 28 6:6 They stood these men before the apostles, who prayed 29 and placed 30 their hands on them.
1:20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, 35 whether things on earth or things in heaven.
1:21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your 36 minds 37 as expressed through 38 your evil deeds,
1 tn Or “I have no money.” L&N 6.69 classifies the expression ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον (argurion kai crusion) as an idiom that is a generic expression for currency, thus “money.”
2 sn In the name. Note the authority in the name of Jesus the Messiah. His presence and power are at work for the man. The reference to “the name” is not like a magical incantation, but is designed to indicate the agent who performs the healing. The theme is quite frequent in Acts (2:38 plus 21 other times).
3 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
4 tc The words “stand up and” (ἔγειρε καί, egeire kai) are not in a few
5 tn Grk “And he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
6 tn The participle ἐνέγκας (enenka") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
7 tn Grk “these.” The translation uses “those” for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Grk “were multiplying.”
9 tn Grk “the Hellenists,” but this descriptive term is largely unknown to the modern English reader. The translation “Greek-speaking Jews” attempts to convey something of who these were, but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of adoption of Greek culture as well.
10 tn Grk “against the Hebrews,” but as with “Hellenists” this needs further explanation for the modern reader.
11 sn The care of widows is a major biblical theme: Deut 10:18; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12-13; 27:19; Isa 1:17-23; Jer 7:6; Mal 3:5.
12 tn Or “neglected.”
13 tn Grk “in the daily serving.”
14 sn The twelve refers to the twelve apostles.
15 tn Grk “calling the whole group…together, said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενοι (proskalesamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
16 tn Or “the multitude.”
17 tn Grk “to serve tables.”
18 tn It is not clear from a historical standpoint (but it is unlikely) that women would have been involved in the selection process too. For this reason the translation “brothers” has been retained, rather than “brothers and sisters” (used in contexts where both male and female believers are clearly addressed).
19 sn Seven. Jewish town councils often had seven members (Josephus, Ant. 4.18.14 [4.214]).
20 tn Or “are of good reputation” (BDAG 618 s.v. μαρτυρέω 2.b).
21 tn The translation “put in charge” is given by BDAG 492 s.v. καθίστημι 2.
22 tn Grk “of this need”; translated “necessary work” or “needed task” by L&N 42.22.
23 tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
24 tn The translation “so” has been used to indicate the logical sequence in English.
25 tn “With” is smoother English style for an addition like this. Because of differences between Greek and English style, καί (kai), which occurs between each name in the list, has not been translated except preceding the last element.
26 sn Philip. Note how many of the names in this list are Greek. This suggests that Hellenists were chosen to solve the problem they had been so sensitive about fixing (cf. 6:1).
27 tn Or “a proselyte.”
28 map For location see JP1-F2; JP2-F2; JP3-F2; JP4-F2.
29 tn Literally this is a participle in the Greek text (προσευξάμενοι, proseuxamenoi). It could be translated as a finite verb (“and they prayed and placed their hands on them”) but much smoother English results if the entire coordinate clause is converted to a relative clause that refers back to the apostles.
30 tn Or “laid.”
31 sn The twelve refers to the twelve apostles.
32 tn Grk “calling the whole group…together, said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενοι (proskalesamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
33 tn Or “the multitude.”
34 tn Grk “to serve tables.”
35 tc The presence or absence of the second occurrence of the phrase δι᾿ αὐτοῦ (di’ autou, “through him”) is a difficult textual problem to solve. External evidence is fairly evenly divided. Many ancient and excellent witnesses lack the phrase (B D* F G I 0278 81 1175 1739 1881 2464 al latt sa), but equally important witnesses have it (Ì46 א A C D1 Ψ 048vid 33 Ï). Both readings have strong Alexandrian support, which makes the problem difficult to decide on external evidence alone. Internal evidence points to the inclusion of the phrase as original. The word immediately preceding the phrase is the masculine pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou); thus the possibility of omission through homoioteleuton in various witnesses is likely. Scribes might have deleted the phrase because of perceived redundancy or awkwardness in the sense: The shorter reading is smoother and more elegant, so scribes would be prone to correct the text in that direction. As far as style is concerned, repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis is not foreign to the corpus Paulinum (see, e.g., Rom 8:23, Eph 1:13, 2 Cor 12:7). In short, it is easier to account for the shorter reading arising from the longer reading than vice versa, so the longer reading is more likely original.
36 tn The article τῇ (th) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
37 tn Although διανοία (dianoia) is singular in Greek, the previous plural noun ἐχθρούς (ecqrous) indicates that all those from Colossae are in view here.
38 tn The dative ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς (en toi" ergoi" toi" ponhroi") is taken as means, indicating the avenue through which hostility in the mind is revealed and made known.