Acts 4:1

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ¹  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ²  of the temple guard ³  and the Sadducees ⁴  came up ⁵  to them,

Acts 5:31

5:31 God exalted him ⁶  to his right hand as Leader ⁷  and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ⁸ 

Acts 12:23

12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord ⁹  struck ¹⁰  Herod ¹¹  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. ¹² 

Acts 13:7-8

13:7 who was with the proconsul ¹³  Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. The proconsul ¹⁴  summoned ¹⁵  Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear ¹⁶  the word of God. 13:8 But the magician Elymas ¹⁷  (for that is the way his name is translated) ¹⁸  opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul ¹⁹  away from the faith.

¹ tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Or “captain.”

³ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

⁴ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

⁵ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).

⁶ tn Grk “This one God exalted” (emphatic).

⁷ tn Or “Founder” (of a movement).

⁸ tn Or “to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.”

¹¹ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

¹² sn 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.

¹³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ sn 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).

¹⁶ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

¹⁷ tn Grk “This one”; the referent (the proconsul) is specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁸ tn Grk “summoning Barnabas and Saul, wanted to hear.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹⁹ sn The proconsul…wanted to hear the word of God. This description of Sergius Paulus portrays him as a sensitive, secular Gentile leader.

²¹ tn On the debate over what the name “Elymas” means, see BDAG 320 s.v. ᾿Ελύμας. The magician’s behavior is more directly opposed to the faith than Simon Magus’ was.

²² sn A parenthetical note by the author.

²³ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.