Acts 7:46

7:46 He ¹  found favor ²  with ³  God and asked that he could ⁴  find a dwelling place ⁵  for the house ⁶  of Jacob.

Acts 7:1

Stephen’s Defense Before the Council

7:1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things true?” ⁷ 

Acts 13:14

13:14 Moving on from ⁸  Perga, ⁹  they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, ¹⁰  and on the Sabbath day they went into ¹¹  the synagogue ¹²  and sat down.

Acts 13:1

The Church at Antioch Commissions Barnabas and Saul

13:1 Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: ¹³  Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, ¹⁴  Lucius the Cyrenian, ¹⁵  Manaen (a close friend of Herod ¹⁶  the tetrarch ¹⁷  from childhood ¹⁸ ) and Saul.

Acts 15:3

15:3 So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia ¹⁹  and Samaria, they were relating at length ²⁰  the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy ²¹  to all the brothers.

Acts 15:5

15:5 But some from the religious party of the Pharisees ²²  who had believed stood up and said, “It is necessary ²³  to circumcise the Gentiles ²⁴  and to order them to observe ²⁵  the law of Moses.”

¹ tn Grk “David, who” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.

² tn Or “grace.”

³ tn Grk “before,” “in the presence of.”

⁴ tn The words “that he could” are not in the Greek text, but are implied as the (understood) subject of the infinitive εὑρεῖν (Jeurein). This understands David’s request as asking that he might find the dwelling place. The other possibility would be to supply “that God” as the subject of the infinitive: “and asked that God find a dwelling place.” Unfortunately this problem is complicated by the extremely difficult problem with the Greek text in the following phrase (“house of Jacob” vs. “God of Jacob”).

⁵ tn On this term see BDAG 929 s.v. σκήνωμα a (Ps 132:5).

⁶ tc Some mss read θεῷ (qew, “God”) here, a variant much easier to understand in the context. The reading “God” is supported by א² A C E Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat sy co. The more difficult οἴκῳ (oikw, “house”) is supported by Ì⁷⁴ א* B D H 049 pc. Thus the second reading is preferred both externally because of better ms evidence and internally because it is hard to see how a copyist finding the reading “God” would change it to “house,” while it is easy to see how (given the LXX of Ps 132:5) a copyist might assimilate the reading and change “house” to “God.” However, some scholars think the reading “house” is so difficult as to be unacceptable. Others (like Lachmann and Hort) resorted to conjectural emendation at this point. Others (Ropes) sought an answer in an underlying Aramaic expression. Not everyone thinks the reading “house” is too difficult to be accepted as original (see Lake and Cadbury). A. F. J. Klijn, “Stephen’s Speech – Acts vii.2-53,” NTS 4 (1957): 25-31, compared the idea of a “house within the house of Israel” with the Manual of Discipline from Qumran, a possible parallel that seems to support the reading “house” as authentic. (For the more detailed discussion from which this note was derived, see TCGNT 308-9.)

⁷ tn Grk “If it is so concerning these things” (see BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.a for this use).

⁸ tn Or “Passing by.”

⁹ sn Perga was a city in Pamphylia near the southern coast of Asia Minor.

¹⁰ tn Or “at Antioch in Pisidia.”

¹¹ tn Grk “going into the synagogue they sat down.” The participle εἰσελθόντες (eiselqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹² sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

¹³ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

¹⁴ sn Simeon may well have been from North Africa, since the Latin loanword Niger refers to someone as “dark-complexioned.”

¹⁵ sn The Cyrenian refers to a native of the city of Cyrene, on the coast of northern Africa west of Egypt.

¹⁶ sn Herod is generally taken as a reference to Herod Antipas, who governed Galilee from 4 b.c. to a.d. 39, who had John the Baptist beheaded, and who is mentioned a number of times in the gospels.

¹⁷ tn Or “the governor.”

¹⁸ tn Or “(a foster brother of Herod the tetrarch).” The meaning “close friend from childhood” is given by L&N 34.15, but the word can also mean “foster brother” (L&N 10.51). BDAG 976 s.v. σύντροφας states, “pert. to being brought up with someone, either as a foster-brother or as a companion/friend,” which covers both alternatives. Context does not given enough information to be certain which is the case here, although many modern translations prefer the meaning “close friend from childhood.”

¹⁹ sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine in ancient Syria.

²⁰ tn L&N 33.201 indicates that ἐκδιηγέομαι (ekdihgeomai) means to provide detailed information in a systematic manner, “to inform, to relate, to tell fully.” “Relating at length” conveys this effectively in the present context.

²¹ tn For ἐποίουν (epoioun) in this verse BDAG 839 s.v. ποιέω 2.c has “they brought joy to the members.”

²² sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

²³ sn The Greek word used here (δεῖ, dei) is a strong term that expresses divine necessity. The claim is that God commanded the circumcision of Gentiles.

²⁴ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the Gentiles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁵ tn Or “keep.”