4:1 While Peter and John 10 were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander 11 of the temple guard 12 and the Sadducees 13 came up 14 to them,
‘Go to this people and say,
“You will keep on hearing, 54 but will never understand,
and you will keep on looking, 55 but will never perceive.
1 tn Or “greatly annoyed,” “provoked.”
2 tn Or “proclaiming.”
3 sn Simeon is a form of the apostle Peter’s Aramaic name. James uses Peter’s “Jewish” name here.
4 tn Or “reported,” “described.”
5 tn BDAG 378 s.v. ἐπισκέπτομαι 3 translates this phrase in Acts 15:14, “God concerned himself about winning a people fr. among the nations.”
6 tn Grk “to take,” but in the sense of selecting or choosing (accompanied by the preposition ἐκ [ek] plus a genitive specifying the group selected from) see Heb 5:1; also BDAG 584 s.v. λαμβάνω 6.
7 sn In the Greek text the expression “from among the Gentiles” is in emphatic position.
5 tn Or “the favor.”
6 tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.
7 tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 tn Or “captain.”
9 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.
10 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.
11 tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).
9 tn Or “speak no longer.”
11 tn Or “captain.”
12 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.
13 tn The Greek term ὑπηρέτης (Juphreth") generally means “servant,” but in the NT is used for many different types of servants. See the note on the word “officers” in v. 22.
14 tn Grk “brought them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn Or “without violence.” It is clear, as well, that the apostles did not resist arrest.
16 tn Grk “for they feared lest they be stoned by the people.” The translation uses a less awkward English equivalent. This is an explanatory note by the author.
13 tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
14 tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.
15 tn Grk “approaching, they seized him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). Stephen suffers just as Peter and John did.
15 tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced by the conjunction “and” and the pronoun “he” at this point to improve the English style.
16 sn Those who had accompanied him refers to the disciples, who knew Jesus in ministry. Luke is aware of resurrection appearances in Galilee though he did not relate any of them in Luke 24.
17 tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced by the demonstrative pronoun “these” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek and the awkwardness of two relative clauses (“who for many days appeared” and “who are now his witnesses”) following one another.
17 tn 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).
18 tn Grk “or why.”
19 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Or “glorifying.”
21 tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.
22 sn Obeying God (see v. 29), the apostles were teaching again (4:18-20; 5:20). They did so despite the risk.
23 tn Or “registration.”
24 tn The verb ἀφίστημι (afisthmi) as a transitive means “cause to revolt” as used in Josephus, Ant. 8.7.5 (8.198), 20.5.2 (20.102); see BDAG 157 s.v. 1.
25 sn After the reading from the law and the prophets. In the 1st century Jewish synagogue, it was customary after the reading of the Torah (law) and prophets for men to give exhortation from the scriptures.
26 tn Normally ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93). Since the term is plural here, however, and it would sound strange to the English reader to speak of “the presidents of the synagogue,” the alternative translation “leaders” is used. “Rulers” would also be acceptable, but does not convey quite the same idea.
27 tn Grk “sent to them”; the word “message” is an understood direct object. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
28 tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.
29 tn Or “word.”
30 tn Or “encouragement.”
31 tn Or “give it.”
27 tn Or “people of Israel.”
28 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
29 tn That is, in both numbers and in power. The implication of greatness in both numbers and in power is found in BDAG 1046 s.v. ὑψόω 2.
30 tn Or “as resident aliens.”
31 tn Or “land.”
32 sn Here uplifted arm is a metaphor for God’s power by which he delivered the Israelites from Egypt. See Exod 6:1, 6; 32:11; Deut 3:24; 4:34; Ps 136:11-12.
29 tn Grk “said.”
30 tn Grk “a Jewish man.”
31 tn Grk “of a not insignificant city.” The double negative, common in Greek, is awkward in English and has been replaced by a corresponding positive expression (BDAG 142 s.v. ἄσημος 1).
32 tn Grk “I beg you.”
31 tn Grk “you will hear with hearing” (an idiom).
32 tn Or “seeing”; Grk “you will look by looking” (an idiom).