Exodus 1:9

1:9 He said ¹  to his people, “Look at ²  the Israelite people, more numerous and stronger than we are!

Job 5:2

5:2 For ³  wrath kills the foolish person, ⁴ 

and anger ⁵  slays the silly one.

Proverbs 27:4

27:4 Wrath is cruel and anger is overwhelming, ⁶ 

but who can stand before jealousy? ⁷ 

John 12:19

12:19 Thus the Pharisees ⁸  said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!”

Acts 4:2-4

4:2 angry ⁹  because they were teaching the people and announcing ¹⁰  in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 4:3 So ¹¹  they seized ¹²  them and put them in jail ¹³  until the next day (for it was already evening). 4:4 But many of those who had listened to ¹⁴  the message ¹⁵  believed, and the number of the men ¹⁶  came to about five thousand.

Acts 5:28-33

5:28 saying, “We gave ¹⁷  you strict orders ¹⁸  not to teach in this name. ¹⁹  Look, ²⁰  you have filled Jerusalem ²¹  with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood ²²  on us!” 5:29 But Peter and the apostles replied, ²³  “We must obey ²⁴  God rather than people. ²⁵  5:30 The God of our forefathers ²⁶  raised up Jesus, whom you seized and killed by hanging him on a tree. ²⁷  5:31 God exalted him ²⁸  to his right hand as Leader ²⁹  and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ³⁰  5:32 And we are witnesses of these events, ³¹  and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey ³²  him.”

5:33 Now when they heard this, they became furious ³³  and wanted to execute them. ³⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “and he said.”

² tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the exhortation to follow by drawing the listeners’ attention to the Israelites. In other words, the exhortation that follows is based on this observation. The connection could be rendered “since, because,” or the like.

³ tn One of the reasons that commentators transpose v. 1 is that the כִּי (ki, “for”) here seems to follow 4:21 better. If people die without wisdom, it is folly that kills them. But the verse also makes sense after 5:1. He is saying that complaining against God will not bring deliverance (v. 1), but rather, by such impatience the fool will bring greater calamity on himself.

⁴ tn The two words for “foolish person” are common in wisdom literature. The first, אֱוִיל (’evil), is the fool who is a senseless person; the פֹּתֶה (poteh) is the naive and silly person, the simpleton, the one who is easily led astray. The direct object is introduced with the preposition ל (lamed) in this verse (see GKC 366 §117.n).

⁵ tn The two parallel nouns are similar; their related verbs are also paralleled in Deut 32:16 with the idea of “vex” and “irritate.” The first word כַּעַשׂ (ka’as) refers to the inner irritation and anger one feels, whereas the second word קִנְאָה (qin’ah) refers to the outward expression of the anger. In Job 6:2, Job will respond “O that my impatience [ka’as] were weighed….”

⁶ tn Heb “fierceness of wrath and outpouring [= flood] of anger.” A number of English versions use “flood” here (e.g., NASB, NCV, NLT).

⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “jealousy” here probably has the negative sense of “envy” rather than the positive sense of “zeal.” It is a raging emotion (like “anger” and “wrath,” this word has nuances of heat, intensity) that defies reason at times and can be destructive like a consuming fire (e.g., 6:32-35; Song 8:6-7). The rhetorical question is intended to affirm that no one can survive a jealous rage. (Whether one is the subject who is jealous or the object of the jealousy of someone else is not so clear.)

⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

⁹ tn Or “greatly annoyed,” “provoked.”

¹⁰ tn Or “proclaiming.”

¹¹ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the logical sequence of events.

¹² tn Or “they arrested”; Grk “they laid hands on.”

¹³ tn Or “prison,” “custody.”

¹⁴ tn Or “had heard.”

¹⁵ tn Or “word.”

¹⁶ tn In the historical setting it is likely that only men are referred to here. The Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr) usually refers to males or husbands rather than people in general. Thus to translate “of the people” would give a false impression of the number, since any women and children were apparently not included in the count.

¹⁷ tc ‡ The majority of mss, including a few important witnesses (א² D E [Ψ] 1739 Ï sy sa), have the negative particle οὐ (ou) here, effectively turning the high priest’s words into a question: “Did we not give you strict orders not to teach in this name?” But the earliest and most important mss, along with some others (Ì⁷⁴ א* A B 1175 lat bo), lack the particle, making this a strong statement rather than a question. Scribes may have been tempted to omit the particle to strengthen the contrast between official Judaism and the new faith, but the fact that v. 27 introduces the quotation with ἐπηρώτησεν (ephrwthsen, “he questioned”) may well have prompted scribes to add οὐ to convert the rebuke into a question. Further, that excellent witnesses affirm the shorter reading is sufficient ground for accepting it as most probably authentic. NA²⁷ includes the particle in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

¹⁸ tn Grk “We commanded you with a commandment” (a Semitic idiom that is emphatic).

¹⁹ sn The name (i.e., person) of Jesus is the constant issue of debate.

²⁰ tn Grk “And behold.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

²¹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

²² sn To bring this man’s blood on us is an idiom meaning “you intend to make us guilty of this man’s death.”

²³ tn Grk “apostles answered and said.”

²⁴ sn Obey. See 4:19. This response has Jewish roots (Dan 3:16-18; 2 Macc 7:2; Josephus, Ant. 17.6.3 [17.159].

²⁵ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

²⁶ tn Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”

²⁷ tn Or “by crucifying him” (“hang on a tree” is by the time of the first century an idiom for crucifixion). The allusion is to the judgment against Jesus as a rebellious figure, appealing to the language of Deut 21:23. The Jewish leadership has badly “misjudged” Jesus.

²⁸ tn Grk “This one God exalted” (emphatic).

²⁹ tn Or “Founder” (of a movement).

³⁰ tn Or “to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.”

³¹ tn Or “things.” They are preaching these things even to the hostile leadership.

³² sn Those who obey. The implication, of course, is that the leadership is disobeying God.

³³ sn The only other use of this verb for anger (furious) is Acts 7:54 after Stephen’s speech.

³⁴ sn Wanted to execute them. The charge would surely be capital insubordination (Exod 22:28).