26:1 So Agrippa 13 said to Paul, “You have permission 14 to speak for yourself.” Then Paul held out his hand 15 and began his defense: 16
1:1 I wrote 17 the former 18 account, 19 Theophilus, 20 about all that Jesus began to do and teach
1 tn Grk “Therefore write the things that you saw, and the things that are, and the things that will take place after these things.” Verse 19 could also be translated (taking καί…καί [kai…kai] as “both…and”): “Therefore write what you have seen, both what things currently are and what is going to happen after these things.” The structure of this verse is debated.
2 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
3 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to show the contrast present in the context.
4 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that the verb is second person plural (referring to more than Nicodemus alone).
5 sn Note the remarkable similarity of Jesus’ testimony to the later testimony of the Apostle John himself in 1 John 1:2: “And we have seen and testify and report to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us.” This is only one example of how thoroughly the author’s own thoughts were saturated with the words of Jesus (and also how difficult it is to distinguish the words of Jesus from the words of the author in the Fourth Gospel).
6 tn Grk “for we are not able not to speak about what we have seen and heard,” but the double negative, which cancels out in English, is emphatic in Greek. The force is captured somewhat by the English translation “it is impossible for us not to speak…” although this is slightly awkward.
7 tn Or “a witness to him.”
8 tn Grk “all men,” but this is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo").
9 tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance.’”
10 sn As a servant and witness. The commission is similar to Acts 1:8 and Luke 1:2. Paul was now an “eyewitness” of the Lord.
11 tn BDAG 719 s.v. ὁράω A.1.b states, “W. attraction of the relative ὧν = τούτων ἅ Lk 9:36; Ac 22:15. The attraction may be due to colloq. breviloquence in μάρτυρα ὧν τε εἶδες με ὧν τε ὀφθήσομαί σοι a witness to the things in which you saw me and to those in which I shall appear to you Ac 26:16b.”
12 tc ‡ Some
13 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.
14 tn Grk “It is permitted for you.”
15 tn Or “extended his hand” (a speaker’s gesture).
16 tn Or “and began to speak in his own defense.”
17 tn Or “produced,” Grk “made.”
18 tn Or “first.” The translation “former” is preferred because “first” could imply to the modern English reader that the author means that his previous account was the first one to be written down. The Greek term πρῶτος (prwtos) does not necessarily mean “first” in an absolute sense, but can refer to the first in a set or series. That is what is intended here – the first account (known as the Gospel of Luke) as compared to the second one (known as Acts).
19 tn The Greek word λόγος (logos) is sometimes translated “book” (NRSV, NIV) or “treatise” (KJV). A formal, systematic treatment of a subject is implied, but the word “book” may be too specific and slightly misleading to the modern reader, so “account” has been used.
20 tn Grk “O Theophilus,” but the usage of the vocative in Acts with ὦ (w) is unemphatic, following more the classical idiom (see ExSyn 69).
21 tn Or “nothing to say in opposition.”