Nehemiah 9:30

9:30 You prolonged your kindness ¹  with them for many years, and you solemnly admonished them by your Spirit through your prophets. Still they paid no attention, ²  so you delivered them into the hands of the neighboring peoples. ³ 

Acts 7:51-52

7:51 “You stubborn ⁴  people, with uncircumcised ⁵  hearts and ears! ⁶  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ⁷  did! 7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ⁸  not persecute? ⁹  They ¹⁰  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ¹¹  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ¹² 

Acts 7:1

Stephen’s Defense Before the Council

7:1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things true?” ¹³ 

Acts 1:11-12

1:11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here ¹⁴  looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven ¹⁵  will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”

A Replacement for Judas is Chosen

1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem ¹⁶  from the mountain ¹⁷  called the Mount of Olives ¹⁸  (which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey ¹⁹  away).

Acts 1:2

1:2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, ²⁰  after he had given orders ²¹  by ²²  the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

Acts 1:21

1:21 Thus one of the men ²³  who have accompanied us during all the time the Lord Jesus associated with ²⁴  us,

¹ tn The Hebrew expression here is elliptical. The words “your kindness” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “did not give ear to.”

³ tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”

⁴ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

⁵ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

⁶ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

⁷ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

⁹ sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

¹⁰ tn Grk “And they.” 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.

¹¹ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

¹² sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).

¹³ tn Grk “If it is so concerning these things” (see BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.a for this use).

¹⁴ tn The word “here” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

¹⁵ tc Codex Bezae (D) and several other witnesses lack the words εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν (ei" ton ouranon, “into heaven”) here, most likely by way of accidental deletion. In any event, it is hardly correct to suppose that the Western text has intentionally suppressed references to the ascension of Christ here, for the phrase is solidly attested in the final clause of the verse.

¹⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁷ tn Or “from the hill.” The Greek term ὄρος (oros) refers to a relatively high elevation of land in contrast with βουνός (bounos, “hill”).

¹⁸ sn The Mount of Olives is the traditional name for this mountain, also called Olivet. The Mount of Olives is really a ridge running north to south about 1.8 mi (3 km) long, east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Its central elevation is about 100 ft (30 m) higher than Jerusalem. It was named for the large number of olive trees which grew on it.

¹⁹ sn The phrase a Sabbath day’s journey refers to the distance the rabbis permitted a person to travel on the Sabbath without breaking the Sabbath, specified in tractate Sotah 5:3 of the Mishnah as 2,000 cubits (a cubit was about 18 inches). In this case the distance was about half a mile (1 km).

²⁰ tn The words “to heaven” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied from v. 11. Several modern translations (NIV, NRSV) supply the words “to heaven” after “taken up” to specify the destination explicitly mentioned later in 1:11.

²¹ tn Or “commands.” Although some modern translations render ἐντειλάμενος (enteilameno") as “instructions” (NIV, NRSV), the word implies authority or official sanction (G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:545), so that a word like “orders” conveys the idea more effectively. The action of the temporal participle is antecedent (prior) to the action of the verb it modifies (“taken up”).

²² tn Or “through.”

²³ tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, where a successor to Judas is being chosen, only men were under consideration in the original historical context.

²⁴ tn Grk “the Lord Jesus went in and out among us.” According to BDAG 294 s.v. εἰσέρχομαι 1.b.β, “ἐν παντὶ χρόνῳ ᾧ εἰσῆλθεν καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς went in and out among us = associated with us Ac 1:21.”