John 5:45-47

5:45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. ¹  5:46 If ²  you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 5:47 But if you do not believe what Moses ³  wrote, how will you believe my words?”

John 7:19

7:19 Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps ⁴  the law! Why do you want ⁵  to kill me?”

Acts 6:11-14

6:11 Then they secretly instigated ⁶  some men to say, “We have heard this man ⁷  speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 6:12 They incited the people, the ⁸  elders, and the experts in the law; ⁹  then they approached Stephen, ¹⁰  seized him, and brought him before the council. ¹¹  6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ¹²  and the law. ¹³  6:14 For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs ¹⁴  that Moses handed down to us.”

Romans 2:17

The Condemnation of the Jew

2:17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law ¹⁵  and boast of your relationship to God ¹⁶ 

¹ sn The final condemnation will come from Moses himself – again ironic, since Moses is the very one the Jewish authorities have trusted in (placed your hope). This is again ironic if it is occurring at Pentecost, which at this time was being celebrated as the occasion of the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. There is evidence that some Jews of the 1st century looked on Moses as their intercessor at the final judgment (see W. A. Meeks, The Prophet King [NovTSup], 161). This would mean the statement Moses, in whom you have placed your hope should be taken literally and relates directly to Jesus’ statements about the final judgment in John 5:28-29.

² tn Grk “For if.”

³ tn Grk “that one” (“he”); the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Or “accomplishes”; Grk “does.”

⁵ tn Grk “seek.”

⁶ tn Another translation would be “they suborned” (but this term is not in common usage). “Instigate (secretly), suborn” is given by BDAG 1036 s.v. ὑποβάλλω.

⁷ tn Grk “heard him”; but since this is direct discourse, it is more natural (and clearer) to specify the referent (Stephen) as “this man.”

⁸ tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

⁹ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

¹⁰ tn Grk “approaching, they seized him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). Stephen suffers just as Peter and John did.

¹² sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

¹³ sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.

¹⁴ tn Or “practices.”

¹⁵ sn The law refers to the Mosaic law, described mainly in the OT books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

¹⁶ tn Grk “boast in God.” This may be an allusion to Jer 9:24.