Exodus 23:17

23:17 At ¹  three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord God. ² 

Exodus 34:23

34:23 At three times ³  in the year all your men ⁴  must appear before the Lord God, ⁵  the God of Israel.

Deuteronomy 16:16

16:16 Three times a year all your males must appear before the Lord your God in the place he chooses for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Temporary Shelters; and they must not appear before him ⁶  empty-handed.

Deuteronomy 16:2

16:2 You must sacrifice the Passover animal ⁷  (from the flock or the herd) to the Lord your God in the place where he ⁸  chooses to locate his name.

Deuteronomy 7:8

7:8 Rather it is because of his ⁹  love ¹⁰  for you and his faithfulness to the promise ¹¹  he solemnly vowed ¹²  to your ancestors ¹³  that the Lord brought you out with great power, ¹⁴  redeeming ¹⁵  you from the place of slavery, from the power ¹⁶  of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 30:1

The Results of Covenant Reaffirmation

30:1 “When you have experienced all these things, both the blessings and the curses ¹⁷  I have set before you, you will reflect upon them ¹⁸  in all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you.

Deuteronomy 1:7-19

1:7 Get up now, ¹⁹  resume your journey, heading for ²⁰  the Amorite hill country, to all its areas ²¹  including the arid country, ²²  the highlands, the Shephelah, ²³  the Negev, ²⁴  and the coastal plain – all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates. 1:8 Look! I have already given the land to you. ²⁵  Go, occupy the territory that I, ²⁶  the Lord, promised ²⁷  to give to your ancestors ²⁸  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants.” ²⁹  1:9 I also said to you at that time, “I am no longer able to sustain you by myself. 1:10 The Lord your God has increased your population ³⁰  to the point that you are now as numerous as the very stars of the sky. ³¹  1:11 Indeed, may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, make you a thousand times more numerous than you are now, blessing you ³²  just as he said he would! 1:12 But how can I alone bear up under the burden of your hardship and strife? 1:13 Select wise and practical ³³  men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders.” 1:14 You replied to me that what I had said to you was good. 1:15 So I chose ³⁴  as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials. 1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they ³⁵  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ³⁶  and judge fairly, ³⁷  whether between one citizen and another ³⁸  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ³⁹  1:17 They ⁴⁰  must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly ⁴¹  and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.

Instructions at Kadesh Barnea

1:18 So I instructed you at that time regarding everything you should do. 1:19 Then we left Horeb and passed through all that immense, forbidding wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as the Lord our God had commanded us to do, finally arriving at Kadesh Barnea.

Zechariah 8:19-23

8:19 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘The fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth ⁴²  months will become joyful and happy, pleasant feasts for the house of Judah, so love truth and peace.’ 8:20 The Lord who rules over all says, ‘It will someday come to pass that people – residents of many cities – will come. 8:21 The inhabitants of one will go to another and say, “Let’s go up at once to ask the favor of the Lord, to seek the Lord who rules over all. Indeed, I’ll go with you.”’ 8:22 Many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord who rules over all and to ask his favor. 8:23 The Lord who rules over all says, ‘In those days ten people from all languages and nations will grasp hold of – indeed, grab – the robe of one Jew and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’” ⁴³ 

Acts 2:5-11

2:5 Now there were devout Jews ⁴⁴  from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. ⁴⁵  2:6 When this sound ⁴⁶  occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, ⁴⁷  because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 2:7 Completely baffled, they said, ⁴⁸  “Aren’t ⁴⁹  all these who are speaking Galileans? 2:8 And how is it that each one of us hears them ⁵⁰  in our own native language? ⁵¹  2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, ⁵²  2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, ⁵³  and visitors from Rome, ⁵⁴  2:11 both Jews and proselytes, ⁵⁵  Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!” ⁵⁶ 

¹ tn Adverbial accusative of time: “three times” becomes “at three times.”

² tn Here the divine Name reads in Hebrew הָאָדֹן יְהוָה (ha’adon yÿhvah), which if rendered according to the traditional scheme of “Lord” for “Yahweh” would result in “Lord Lord.” A number of English versions therefore render this phrase “Lord God,” and that convention has been followed here.

³ tn “Three times” is an adverbial accusative.

⁴ tn Heb “all your males.”

⁵ tn Here the divine name reads in Hebrew הָאָדֹן יְהוָה (ha’adon yÿhvah), which if rendered according to the traditional scheme of “Lord” for “Yahweh” would result in “Lord Lord.” A number of English versions therefore render this phrase “Lord God,” and that convention has been followed here.

⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 16:1.

⁷ tn Heb “sacrifice the Passover” (so NASB). The word “animal” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in the previous verse.

⁹ tn Heb “the Lord’s.” See note on “He” in 7:6.

¹⁰ tn For the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) as a term of choice or election, see note on the word “loved” in Deut 4:37.

¹¹ tn Heb “oath.” This is a reference to the promises of the so-called “Abrahamic Covenant” (cf. Gen 15:13-16).

¹² tn Heb “swore on oath.”

¹³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 12, 13).

¹⁴ tn Heb “by a strong hand” (NAB similar); NLT “with such amazing power.”

¹⁵ sn Redeeming you from the place of slavery. The Hebrew verb translated “redeeming” (from the root פָּדָה, padah) has the idea of redemption by the payment of a ransom. The initial symbol of this was the Passover lamb, offered by Israel to the Lord as ransom in exchange for deliverance from bondage and death (Exod 12:1-14). Later, the firstborn sons of Israel, represented by the Levites, became the ransom (Num 3:11-13). These were all types of the redemption effected by the death of Christ who described his atoning work as “a ransom for many” (Matt 20:28; cf. 1 Pet 1:18).

¹⁶ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NRSV), a metaphor for power or domination.

¹⁷ tn Heb “the blessing and the curse.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “and you bring (them) back to your heart.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “turn”; NAB “Leave here”; NIV, TEV “Break camp.”

²⁰ tn Heb “go (to).”

²¹ tn Heb “its dwelling places.”

²² tn Heb “the Arabah” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

²³ tn Heb “lowlands” (so TEV) or “steppes”; NIV, CEV, NLT “the western foothills.”

²⁴ sn The Hebrew term Negev means literally “desert” or “south” (so KJV, ASV). It refers to the area south of Beer Sheba and generally west of the Arabah Valley between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.

²⁵ tn Heb “I have placed before you the land.”

²⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” Since the Lord is speaking, it is preferable for clarity to supply the first person pronoun in the translation.

²⁷ tn Heb “swore” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This refers to God’s promise, made by solemn oath, to give the patriarchs the land.

²⁸ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 11, 21, 35).

²⁹ tn Heb “their seed after them.”

³⁰ tn Heb “multiplied you.”

³¹ tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

³² tn Heb “may he bless you.”

³³ tn The Hebrew verb נְבֹנִים (nÿvonim, from בִּין [bin]) is a Niphal referring to skill or intelligence (see T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:652-53).

³⁴ tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”

³⁵ tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

³⁶ tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.

³⁷ tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).

³⁸ tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”

³⁹ tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”

⁴⁰ tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).

⁴¹ tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.

⁴² sn The fasts of the fifth and seventh months, mentioned previously (7:5), are listed here along with the observances of the fourth and tenth months. The latter commemorated the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians on January 15, 588 b.c. (2 Kgs 25:1), and the former the breach of the city walls on or about July 18, 586 b.c. (Jer 39:2-5).

⁴³ sn This scene of universal and overwhelming attraction of the nations to Israel’s God finds initial fulfillment in the establishment of the church (Acts 2:5-11) but ultimate completion in the messianic age (Isa 45:14, 24; 60:14; Zech 14:16-21).

⁴⁴ tn Grk “Jews, devout men.” It is possible that only men are in view here in light of OT commands for Jewish men to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at various times during the year (cf. Exod 23:17, 34:23; Deut 16:16). However, other evidence seems to indicate that both men and women might be in view. Luke 2:41-52 shows that whole families would make the temporary trip to Jerusalem. In addition, it is probable that the audience consisted of families who had taken up permanent residence in Jerusalem. The verb κατοικέω (katoikew) normally means “reside” or “dwell,” and archaeological evidence from tombs in Jerusalem does indicate that many families immigrated to Jerusalem permanently (see B. Witherington, Acts, 135); this would naturally include women. Also, the word ἀνήρ (ajnhr), which usually does mean “male” or “man” (as opposed to woman), sometimes is used generically to mean “a person” (BDAG 79 s.v. 2; cf. Matt 12:41). Given this evidence, then, it is conceivable that the audience in view here is not individual male pilgrims but a mixed group of men and women.

⁴⁵ tn Grk “Now there were residing in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.”

⁴⁶ tn Or “this noise.”

⁴⁷ tn Or “was bewildered.”

⁴⁸ tn Grk “They were astounded and amazed, saying.” The two imperfect verbs, ἐξίσταντο (existanto) and ἐθαύμαζον (eqaumazon), show both the surprise and the confusion on the part of the hearers. The verb ἐξίσταντο (from ἐξίστημι, existhmi) often implies an illogical perception or response (BDAG 350 s.v. ἐξίστημι): “to be so astonished as to almost fail to comprehend what one has experienced” (L&N 25.218).

⁴⁹ tn Grk “Behold, aren’t all these.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

⁵⁰ tn Grk “we hear them, each one of us.”

⁵¹ tn Grk “in our own language in which we were born.”

⁵² tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

⁵³ tn According to BDAG 595 s.v. Λιβύη, the western part of Libya, Libya Cyrenaica, is referred to here (see also Josephus, Ant. 16.6.1 [16.160] for a similar phrase).

⁵⁴ map For location see JP4-A1.

⁵⁵ sn Proselytes refers to Gentile (i.e., non-Jewish) converts to Judaism.

⁵⁶ tn Or “God’s mighty works.” Here the genitive τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou) has been translated as a subjective genitive.