7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ 1 will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
1 sn The double use of the vocative is normally used in situations of high emotion or emphasis. Even an emphatic confession without action means little.
2 tn The pleonastic pronoun αὐτός (autos, “he”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.
3 tn Heb “turn from his way.”
4 tn Heb “ways.” This same word is translated “behavior” earlier in the verse.
5 sn The whole of heaven is said to rejoice. Joy in the presence of God’s angels is a way of referring to God’s joy as well without having to name him explicitly. Contemporary Judaism tended to refer to God indirectly where possible out of reverence or respect for the divine name.
6 tn Or “has deliberately paid no attention to.”
7 tn Or “times when people did not know.”
8 tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).
9 sn He now commands all people everywhere to repent. God was now asking all mankind to turn to him. No nation or race was excluded.
10 tn Grk “he went in to them”; the referent (the Jews in the synagogue) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Although the word διελέξατο (dielexato; from διαλέγομαι, dialegomai) is frequently translated “reasoned,” “disputed,” or “argued,” this sense comes from its classical meaning where it was used of philosophical disputation, including the Socratic method of questions and answers. However, there does not seem to be contextual evidence for this kind of debate in Acts 17:2. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21.
12 tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.