Ezra 4:12

4:12 Now ¹  let the king be aware that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and odious city. ²  They are completing its walls and repairing its foundations.

Nehemiah 4:2

4:2 and in the presence of his colleagues ³  and the army of Samaria ⁴  he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? ⁵  Will they again offer sacrifice? Will they finish this in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones to life again from piles of dust?”

Acts 18:14-16

18:14 But just as Paul was about to speak, ⁶  Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, ⁷  I would have been justified in accepting the complaint ⁸  of you Jews, ⁹  18:15 but since it concerns points of disagreement ¹⁰  about words and names and your own law, settle ¹¹  it yourselves. I will not be ¹²  a judge of these things!” 18:16 Then he had them forced away ¹³  from the judgment seat. ¹⁴ 

Acts 23:29

23:29 I found he ¹⁵  was accused with reference to controversial questions ¹⁶  about their law, but no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment. ¹⁷ 

Acts 25:19-20

25:19 Rather they had several points of disagreement ¹⁸  with him about their own religion ¹⁹  and about a man named Jesus ²⁰  who was dead, whom Paul claimed ²¹  to be alive. 25:20 Because I was at a loss ²²  how I could investigate these matters, ²³  I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried ²⁴  there on these charges. ²⁵ 

Romans 3:1-2

3:1 Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? 3:2 Actually, there are many advantages. ²⁶  First of all, ²⁷  the Jews ²⁸  were entrusted with the oracles of God. ²⁹ 

¹ tn The MT takes this word with the latter part of v. 11, but in English style it fits better with v. 12.

² sn Management of the provinces that were distantly removed from the capital was difficult, and insurrection in such places was a perennial problem. The language used in this report about Jerusalem (i.e., “rebellious,” “odious”) is intentionally inflammatory. It is calculated to draw immediate attention to the perceived problem.

³ tn Heb “brothers.”

⁴ map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

⁵ tc The Hebrew text is difficult here. The present translation follows the MT, but the text may be corrupt. H. G. M. Williamson (Ezra, Nehemiah [WBC], 213-14) translates these words as “Will they commit their cause to God?” suggesting that MT לָהֶם (lahem, “to them”) should be emended to לֵאלֹהִים (lelohim, “to God”), a proposal also found in the apparatus of BHS. In his view later scribes altered the phrase out of theological motivations. J. Blenkinsopp’s translation is similar: “Are they going to leave it all to God?” (Ezra–Nehemiah [OTL], 242-44). However, a problem for this view is the absence of external evidence to support the proposed emendation. The sense of the MT reading may be the notion that the workers – if left to their own limited resources – could not possibly see such a demanding and expensive project through to completion. This interpretation understands the collocation עָזַב (’azav, “to leave”) plus לְ (lÿ, “to”) to mean “commit a matter to someone,” with the sense in this verse “Will they leave the building of the fortified walls to themselves?”

⁶ tn Grk “about to open his mouth” (an idiom).

⁷ tn BDAG 902 s.v. ῥᾳδιούργημα states, “From the sense ‘prank, knavery, roguish trick, slick deed’ it is but a short step to that of a serious misdeed, crime, villainy…a serious piece of villainy Ac 18:14 (w. ἀδίκημα).”

⁸ tn According to BDAG 78 s.v. ἀνέχω 3 this is a legal technical term: “Legal t.t. κατὰ λόγον ἂν ἀνεσχόμην ὑμῶν I would have been justified in accepting your complaint Ac 18:14.”

⁹ tn Grk “accepting your complaint, O Jews.”

¹⁰ tn Or “dispute.”

¹¹ tn Grk “see to it” (an idiom).

¹² tn Or “I am not willing to be.” Gallio would not adjudicate their religious dispute.

¹³ tn Grk “driven away,” but this could result in a misunderstanding in English (“driven” as in a cart or wagon?). “Forced away” conveys the idea; Gallio rejected their complaint. In contemporary English terminology the case was “thrown out of court.” The verb ἀπήλασεν (aphlasen) has been translated as a causative since Gallio probably did not perform this action in person, but ordered his aides or officers to remove the plaintiffs.

¹⁴ sn See the note on the term judgment seat in 18:12.

¹⁵ tn Grk “whom I found.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been changed to a personal pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at this point.

¹⁶ tn BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19. – In 23:29, since περί had already been used, the subj. of the discussion is added in the gen. ζ. τοῦ νόμου αὐτῶν.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “but having no charge worthy of death or imprisonment.” BDAG 273-74 s.v. ἔγκλημα 1 has “legal t.t.…ἔ. ἄξιον θανάτου ἢ δεσμῶν a charge deserving death or imprisonment 23:29.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “several controversial issues.” BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19.”

¹⁹ tn On this term see BDAG 216 s.v. δεισιδαιμονία 2. It is a broad term for religion.

²⁰ tn Grk “a certain Jesus.”

²¹ tn Or “asserted.”

²² tn Or “Because I was undecided.” Grk “Being at a loss.” The participle ἀπορούμενος (aporoumeno") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

²³ tn L&N 27.34 states, “ἀπορούμενος δὲ ἐγὼ τὴν περὶ τούτων ζήτησιν ‘I was undecided about how I could get information on these matters’ Ac 25:20. The clause ‘about how I could get information on these matters’ may also be rendered as ‘about how I should try to find out about these matters’ or ‘about how I could learn about these matters.’”

²⁴ tn Or “stand trial.”

²⁵ tn Grk “on these things.”

²⁶ tn Grk “much in every way.”

²⁷ tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A D² 33 Ï) have γάρ (gar) after μέν (men), though some significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses lack the conjunction (B D* G Ψ 81 365 1506 2464* pc latt). A few mss have γάρ, but not μέν (6 1739 1881). γάρ was frequently added by scribes as a clarifying conjunction, making it suspect here. NA²⁷ has the γάρ in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

²⁸ tn Grk “they were.”

²⁹ tn The referent of λόγια (logia, “oracles”) has been variously understood: (1) BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιον takes the term to refer here to “God’s promises to the Jews”; (2) some have taken this to refer more narrowly to the national promises of messianic salvation given to Israel (so S. L. Johnson, Jr., “Studies in Romans: Part VII: The Jews and the Oracles of God,” BSac 130 [1973]: 245); (3) perhaps the most widespread interpretation sees the term as referring to the entire OT generally.