2 Chronicles 25:16

25:16 While he was speaking, Amaziah ¹  said to him, “Did we appoint you to be a royal counselor? Stop prophesying or else you will be killed!” ²  So the prophet stopped, but added, “I know that the Lord has decided ³  to destroy you, because you have done this thing and refused to listen to my advice.”

Amos 7:12-13

7:12 Amaziah then said to Amos, “Leave, you visionary! ⁴  Run away to the land of Judah! Earn your living ⁵  and prophesy there! 7:13 Don’t prophesy at Bethel ⁶  any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!” ⁷ 

John 11:47-53

11:47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees ⁸  called the council ⁹  together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs. 11:48 If we allow him to go on in this way, ¹⁰  everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary ¹¹  and our nation.”

11:49 Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, ¹²  “You know nothing at all! 11:50 You do not realize ¹³  that it is more to your advantage to have one man ¹⁴  die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.” ¹⁵  11:51 (Now he did not say this on his own, ¹⁶  but because he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the Jewish nation, ¹⁷  11:52 and not for the Jewish nation ¹⁸  only, ¹⁹  but to gather together ²⁰  into one the children of God who are scattered.) ²¹  11:53 So from that day they planned together to kill him.

Acts 4:17-21

4:17 But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more ²²  to anyone in this name.” 4:18 And they called them in and ordered ²³  them not to speak or teach at all in the name ²⁴  of Jesus. 4:19 But Peter and John replied, ²⁵  “Whether it is right before God to obey ²⁶  you rather than God, you decide, 4:20 for it is impossible ²⁷  for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” 4:21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising ²⁸  God for what had happened.

Acts 5:28

5:28 saying, “We gave ²⁹  you strict orders ³⁰  not to teach in this name. ³¹  Look, ³²  you have filled Jerusalem ³³  with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood ³⁴  on us!”

Acts 5:40

5:40 and they summoned the apostles and had them beaten. ³⁵  Then ³⁶  they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.

[25:16]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Amaziah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:16]  ² tn Heb “Stop yourself! Why should they strike you down?”

[25:16]  ³ tn The verb יָעַץ (ya’ats, “has decided”) is from the same root as יוֹעֵץ (yo’ets, “counselor”) in v. 16 and עֵצָה (’etsah, “advice”) later in v. 16. The wordplay highlights the appropriate nature of the divine punishment. Amaziah rejected the counsel of God’s prophet; now he would be the victim of God’s “counsel.”

[7:12]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “seer.” The word is a synonym for “prophet,” though it may carry a derogatory tone on the lips of Amaziah.

[7:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Eat bread there.”

[7:13]  ⁶ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “for it is a temple of a king and it is a royal house.” It is possible that the phrase “royal house” refers to a temple rather than a palace. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 243.

[11:47]  ⁸ tn The phrase “chief priests and Pharisees” is a comprehensive name for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26.

[11:47]  ⁹ tn Or “Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). The συνέδριον (sunedrion) which they gathered was probably an informal meeting rather than the official Sanhedrin. This is the only occurrence of the word συνέδριον in the Gospel of John, and the only anarthrous singular use in the NT. There are other plural anarthrous uses which have the general meaning “councils.” The fact that Caiaphas in 11:49 is referred to as “one of them” supports the unofficial nature of the meeting; in the official Sanhedrin he, being high priest that year, would have presided over the assembly. Thus it appears that an informal council was called to discuss what to do about Jesus and his activities.

[11:48]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “If we let him do thus.”

[11:48]  ¹¹ tn Or “holy place”; Grk “our place” (a reference to the temple in Jerusalem).

[11:49]  ¹² tn Grk “said to them.” The indirect object αὐτοῖς (autois) has not been translated for stylistic reasons.

[11:50]  ¹³ tn Or “you are not considering.”

[11:50]  ¹⁴ tn Although it is possible to argue that ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") should be translated “person” here since it is not necessarily masculinity that is in view in Caiaphas’ statement, “man” was retained in the translation because in 11:47 “this man” (οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος, outo" Jo anqrwpo") has as its referent a specific individual, Jesus, and it was felt this connection should be maintained.

[11:50]  ¹⁵ sn In his own mind Caiaphas was no doubt giving voice to a common-sense statement of political expediency. Yet he was unconsciously echoing a saying of Jesus himself (cf. Mark 10:45). Caiaphas was right; the death of Jesus would save the nation from destruction. Yet Caiaphas could not suspect that Jesus would die, not in place of the political nation Israel, but on behalf of the true people of God; and he would save them, not from physical destruction, but from eternal destruction (cf. 3:16-17). The understanding of Caiaphas’ words in a sense that Caiaphas could not possibly have imagined at the time he uttered them serves as a clear example of the way in which the author understood that words and actions could be invested retrospectively with a meaning not consciously intended or understood by those present at the time.

[11:51]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “say this from himself.”

[11:51]  ¹⁷ tn The word “Jewish” is not in the Greek text, but is clearly implied by the context (so also NIV; TEV “the Jewish people”).

[11:52]  ¹⁸ tn See the note on the word “nation” in the previous verse.

[11:52]  ¹⁹ sn The author in his comment expands the prophecy to include the Gentiles (not for the Jewish nation only), a confirmation that the Fourth Gospel was directed, at least partly, to a Gentile audience. There are echoes of Pauline concepts here (particularly Eph 2:11-22) in the stress on the unity of Jew and Gentile.

[11:52]  ²⁰ tn Grk “that he might gather together.”

[11:52]  ²¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[4:17]  ²² tn Or “speak no longer.”

[4:18]  ²³ tn Or “commanded.”

[4:18]  ²⁴ sn In the name of Jesus. Once again, the “name” reflects the person. The person of Jesus and his authority is the “troubling” topic that, as far as the Jewish leadership is concerned, needs controlling.

[4:19]  ²⁵ tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[4:19]  ²⁶ tn Grk “hear,” but the idea of “hear and obey” or simply “obey” is frequently contained in the Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw; see L&N 36.14).

[4:20]  ²⁷ 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.

[4:21]  ²⁸ tn Or “glorifying.”

[5:28]  ²⁹ tc ‡ The majority of mss, including a few important witnesses (א² D E [Ψ] 1739 Ï sy sa), have the negative particle οὐ (ou) here, effectively turning the high priest’s words into a question: “Did we not give you strict orders not to teach in this name?” But the earliest and most important mss, along with some others (Ì⁷⁴ א* A B 1175 lat bo), lack the particle, making this a strong statement rather than a question. Scribes may have been tempted to omit the particle to strengthen the contrast between official Judaism and the new faith, but the fact that v. 27 introduces the quotation with ἐπηρώτησεν (ephrwthsen, “he questioned”) may well have prompted scribes to add οὐ to convert the rebuke into a question. Further, that excellent witnesses affirm the shorter reading is sufficient ground for accepting it as most probably authentic. NA²⁷ includes the particle in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[5:28]  ³⁰ tn Grk “We commanded you with a commandment” (a Semitic idiom that is emphatic).

[5:28]  ³¹ sn The name (i.e., person) of Jesus is the constant issue of debate.

[5:28]  ³² tn Grk “And behold.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[5:28]  ³³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:28]  ³⁴ sn To bring this man’s blood on us is an idiom meaning “you intend to make us guilty of this man’s death.”

[5:40]  ³⁵ sn Had them beaten. The punishment was the “forty lashes minus one,” see also Acts 22:19; 2 Cor 11:24; Mark 13:9. The apostles had disobeyed the religious authorities and took their punishment for their “disobedience” (Deut 25:2-3; m. Makkot 3:10-14). In Acts 4:18 they were warned. Now they are beaten. The hostility is rising as the narrative unfolds.

[5:40]  ³⁶ tn The word “Then” is supplied as the beginning of a new sentence in the translation. The construction in Greek has so many clauses (most of them made up of participles) that a continuous English sentence would be very awkward.