Acts 7:57

7:57 But they covered their ears, ¹  shouting out with a loud voice, and rushed at him with one intent.

Acts 7:51

7:51 “You stubborn ²  people, with uncircumcised ³  hearts and ears! ⁴  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ⁵  did!

Acts 11:22

11:22 A report ⁶  about them came to the attention ⁷  of the church in Jerusalem, ⁸  and they sent Barnabas ⁹  to Antioch. ¹⁰ 

Acts 28:27

28:27 For the heart of this people has become dull, ¹¹ 

and their ears are hard of hearing, ¹² 

and they have closed their eyes,

so that they would not see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn, ¹³  and I would heal them.”’ ¹⁴ 

¹ sn They covered their ears to avoid hearing what they considered to be blasphemy.

² sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

³ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

⁴ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

³ tn Grk “Word.”

⁴ tn Grk “was heard in the ears,” an idiom. L&N 24.67 states that the idiom means “to hear in secret” (which it certainly does in Matt 10:27), but secrecy does not seem to be part of the context here, and there is no particular reason to suggest the report was made in secret.

⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁶ tc ‡ Most mss read the infinitive “to travel” after “Barnabas.” διελθεῖν (dielqein) is found before ἕως (Jews) in D E Ψ 33 Ï and some versional mss. It is lacking in Ì⁷⁴ א A B 81 1739 pc and some versional mss. Although the infinitive with ἕως fits Lukan style, it has the appearance of a scribal clarification. The infinitive has the earmarks of a Western expansion on the text and thus is unlikely to be original. NA²⁷ has the infinitive in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

⁷ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19. Again the Jerusalem church exercised an oversight role.

⁴ tn Or “insensitive.”

⁵ tn Grk “they hear heavily with their ears” (an idiom for slow comprehension).

⁶ sn Note how the failure to respond to the message of the gospel is seen as a failure to turn.

⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10.