Acts 7:42

7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over ¹  to worship the host ²  of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices ³  forty years in the wilderness, was it, ⁴  house of Israel?

Acts 16:15

16:15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, ⁵  “If ⁶  you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, ⁷  come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded ⁸  us.

¹ sn The expression and gave them over suggests similarities to the judgment on the nations described by Paul in Rom 1:18-32.

² tn Or “stars.”

³ tn The two terms for sacrifices “semantically reinforce one another and are here combined essentially for emphasis” (L&N 53.20).

⁴ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question, “was it?”

⁵ tn Grk “urged us, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

⁶ tn This is a first class condition in Greek, with the statement presented as real or true for the sake of the argument.

⁷ tn Or “faithful to the Lord.” BDAG 821 s.v. πίστος 2 states concerning this verse, “Of one who confesses the Christian faith believing or a believer in the Lord, in Christ, in God πιστ. τῷ κυρίῳ Ac 16:15.” L&N 11.17 has “one who is included among the faithful followers of Christ – ‘believer, Christian, follower.’”

⁸ tn Although BDAG 759 s.v. παραβιάζομαι has “urge strongly, prevail upon,” in contemporary English “persuade” is a more frequently used synonym for “prevail upon.”