2 Kings 13:14-19

Elisha Makes One Final Prophecy

13:14 Now Elisha had a terminal illness. ¹  King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. ²  He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot ³  and horsemen of Israel!” ⁴  13:15 Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. ⁵  13:16 Then Elisha ⁶  told the king of Israel, “Aim the bow.” ⁷  He did so, ⁸  and Elisha placed his hands on the king’s hands. 13:17 Elisha ⁹  said, “Open the east window,” and he did so. ¹⁰  Elisha said, “Shoot!” and

he did so. ¹¹  Elisha ¹²  said, “This arrow symbolizes the victory the Lord will give you over Syria. ¹³  You will annihilate Syria in Aphek!” ¹⁴  13:18 Then Elisha ¹⁵  said, “Take the arrows,” and he did so. ¹⁶  He told the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!” He struck the ground three times and stopped. 13:19 The prophet ¹⁷  got angry at him and said, “If you had struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated Syria! ¹⁸  But now, you will defeat Syria only three times.”

Numbers 27:16-23

27:16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all humankind, ¹⁹  appoint ²⁰  a man over the community, 27:17 who will go out before them, and who will come in before them, ²¹  and who will lead them out, and who will bring them in, so that ²²  the community of the Lord may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.”

27:18 The Lord replied ²³  to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is such a spirit, ²⁴  and lay your hand on him; ²⁵  27:19 set him ²⁶  before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community, and commission ²⁷  him publicly. ²⁸  27:20 Then you must delegate ²⁹  some of your authority ³⁰  to him, so that the whole community of the Israelites will be obedient. ³¹  27:21 And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ³²  will seek counsel ³³  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ³⁴  At his command ³⁵  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

27:22 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him; he took Joshua and set ³⁶  him before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community. 27:23 He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the Lord commanded, ³⁷  by the authority ³⁸  of Moses.

Deuteronomy 34:9

The Epitaph of Moses

34:9 Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had placed his hands on him; ³⁹  and the Israelites listened to him and did just what the Lord had commanded Moses.

Deuteronomy 34:1

The Death of Moses

34:1 Then Moses ascended from the deserts of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. ⁴⁰  The Lord showed him the whole land – Gilead to Dan,

Deuteronomy 29:18-19

29:18 Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit. ⁴¹  29:19 When such a person ⁴²  hears the words of this oath he secretly ⁴³  blesses himself ⁴⁴  and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” ⁴⁵  This will destroy ⁴⁶  the watered ground with the parched. ⁴⁷ 

Psalms 72:1

Psalm 72 ⁴⁸ 

For ⁴⁹  Solomon.

72:1 O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions! ⁵⁰ 

Grant the king’s son ⁵¹  the ability to make fair decisions! ⁵² 

Psalms 72:20

72:20 This collection of the prayers of David son of Jesse ends here. ⁵³ 

Luke 24:45-51

24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, ⁵⁴  24:46 and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ ⁵⁵  would suffer ⁵⁶  and would rise from the dead on the third day, 24:47 and repentance ⁵⁷  for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ⁵⁸  in his name to all nations, ⁵⁹  beginning from Jerusalem. ⁶⁰  24:48 You are witnesses ⁶¹  of these things. 24:49 And look, I am sending you ⁶²  what my Father promised. ⁶³  But stay in the city ⁶⁴  until you have been clothed with power ⁶⁵  from on high.”

Jesus’ Departure

24:50 Then ⁶⁶  Jesus ⁶⁷  led them out as far as Bethany, ⁶⁸  and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 24:51 Now ⁶⁹  during the blessing ⁷⁰  he departed ⁷¹  and was taken up into heaven. ⁷² 

John 17:9-13

17:9 I am praying ⁷³  on behalf of them. I am not praying ⁷⁴  on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you have given me, because they belong to you. ⁷⁵  17:10 Everything ⁷⁶  I have belongs to you, ⁷⁷  and everything you have belongs to me, ⁷⁸  and I have been glorified by them. ⁷⁹  17:11 I ⁸⁰  am no longer in the world, but ⁸¹  they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them safe ⁸²  in your name ⁸³  that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one. ⁸⁴  17:12 When I was with them I kept them safe ⁸⁵  and watched over them ⁸⁶  in your name ⁸⁷  that you have given me. Not one ⁸⁸  of them was lost except the one destined for destruction, ⁸⁹  so that the scripture could be fulfilled. ⁹⁰  17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience ⁹¹  my joy completed ⁹²  in themselves.

Acts 1:8

1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts ⁹³  of the earth.”

Acts 8:17

8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans, ⁹⁴  and they received the Holy Spirit. ⁹⁵ 

Acts 20:25-36

20:25 “And now ⁹⁶  I know that none ⁹⁷  of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom ⁹⁸  will see me ⁹⁹  again. 20:26 Therefore I declare ¹⁰⁰  to you today that I am innocent ¹⁰¹  of the blood of you all. ¹⁰²  20:27 For I did not hold back from ¹⁰³  announcing ¹⁰⁴  to you the whole purpose ¹⁰⁵  of God. 20:28 Watch out for ¹⁰⁶  yourselves and for all the flock of which ¹⁰⁷  the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, ¹⁰⁸  to shepherd the church of God ¹⁰⁹  that he obtained ¹¹⁰  with the blood of his own Son. ¹¹¹  20:29 I know that after I am gone ¹¹²  fierce wolves ¹¹³  will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 20:30 Even from among your own group ¹¹⁴  men ¹¹⁵  will arise, teaching perversions of the truth ¹¹⁶  to draw the disciples away after them. 20:31 Therefore be alert, ¹¹⁷  remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning ¹¹⁸  each one of you with tears. 20:32 And now I entrust ¹¹⁹  you to God and to the message ¹²⁰  of his grace. This message ¹²¹  is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 20:33 I have desired ¹²²  no one’s silver or gold or clothing. 20:34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine ¹²³  provided for my needs and the needs of those who were with me. 20:35 By all these things, ¹²⁴  I have shown you that by working in this way we must help ¹²⁵  the weak, ¹²⁶  and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” ¹²⁷ 

20:36 When ¹²⁸  he had said these things, he knelt down ¹²⁹  with them all and prayed.

[13:14]  ¹ tn Heb “Now Elisha was ill with the illness by which he would die.”

[13:14]  ² tn Heb “went down to him.”

[13:14]  ³ tn Though the noun is singular here, it may be collective, in which case it could be translated “chariots.”

[13:14]  ⁴ sn By comparing Elisha to a one-man army, the king emphasizes the power of the prophetic word. See the note at 2:12.

[13:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he took a bow and some arrows.”

[13:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “Cause your hand to ride on the bow.”

[13:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he caused his hand to ride.”

[13:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “He opened [it].”

[13:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he shot.”

[13:17]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “The arrow of victory of the Lord and the arrow of victory over Syria.”

[13:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you will strike down Syria in Aphek until destruction.”

[13:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elisha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:18]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he took [them].”

[13:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “man of God.”

[13:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[It was necessary] to strike five or six times, then you would strike down Syria until destruction.” On the syntax of the infinitive construct, see GKC 349 §114.k.

[27:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “flesh”; cf. NAB, NIV “all mankind”; NCV “all people”; NLT “all living things.”

[27:16]  ²⁰ tn This is the same verb פָּקַד (paqad) that is used throughout the book for the aspect of “numbering” the people.

[27:17]  ²¹ sn This is probably technical terminology for a military leader (Josh 14:11; 1 Sam 18:13-16; 1 Kgs 3:7; 2 Kgs 11:9). The image of a shepherd can also be military in nature (1 Kgs 22:17).

[27:17]  ²² tn The Hebrew text has the conjunction with the negated imperfect tense, “and it will not be.” This clause should be subordinated to the preceding to form a result clause, and the imperfect then function as a final imperfect.

[27:18]  ²³ tn Or “said.”

[27:18]  ²⁴ sn The word “spirit” probably refers to the Holy Spirit, in which case it would be rendered “in whom is the Spirit.” This would likely be a permanent endowment for Joshua. But it is also possible to take it to refer to a proper spirit to do all the things required of such a leader (which ultimately is a gift from the Spirit of God). The Hebrew text simply says “in whom is a spirit.”

[27:18]  ²⁵ sn This symbolic act would indicate the transfer of leadership to Joshua.

[27:19]  ²⁶ tn This could be translated “position him,” or “have him stand,” since it is the causative stem of the verb “to stand.”

[27:19]  ²⁷ tn The verb is the Piel perfect of צִוָּה (tsivvah, literally “to command”). The verb has a wide range of meanings, and so here in this context the idea of instructing gives way to a more general sense of commissioning for duty. The verb in sequence is equal to the imperfect of instruction.

[27:19]  ²⁸ tn Heb “in their eyes.”

[27:20]  ²⁹ tn The verb is simply “give,” but in this context giving some of Moses’ honor to Joshua in the presence of the people is essentially passing the leadership to him, or delegating the authority to him with the result that people would follow him.

[27:20]  ³⁰ tc The Greek, Syriac, and Vulgate read “glory” for this form that occurs only here in the Pentateuch. Elsewhere it is rendered “majesty, splendor” (see Ps 96:6). It could even be “vitality” here. The authority being transferred here is both spiritual and civil.

[27:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “hear.”

[27:21]  ³² tn The passage simply has “and he will ask,” but Eleazar is clearly the subject now.

[27:21]  ³³ tn Heb “ask.”

[27:21]  ³⁴ sn The new leader would not have the privilege that Moses had in speaking to God face to face. Rather, he would have to inquire of the Lord through the priest, and the priest would seek a decision by means of the Urim. The Urim and the Thummim were the sacred lots that the priest had in his pouch, the “breastplate” as it has traditionally been called. Since the Law had now been fully established, there would be fewer cases that the leader would need further rulings. Now it would simply be seeking the Lord’s word for matters such as whether to advance or not. The size, shape or substance of these objects is uncertain. See further C. Van Dam, The Urim and Thummim.

[27:21]  ³⁵ tn Heb “mouth,” meaning what he will say.

[27:22]  ³⁶ tn Heb “stood.”

[27:23]  ³⁷ tn Heb “spoke.”

[27:23]  ³⁸ tn Heb “hand.”

[34:9]  ³⁹ sn See Num 27:18.

[34:1]  ⁴⁰ sn For the geography involved, see note on the term “Pisgah” in Deut 3:17.

[29:18]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “yielding fruit poisonous and wormwood.” The Hebrew noun לַעֲנָה (la’anah) literally means “wormwood” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB), but is used figuratively for anything extremely bitter, thus here “fruit poisonous and bitter.”

[29:19]  ⁴² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the subject of the warning in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:19]  ⁴³ tn Heb “in his heart.”

[29:19]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “invokes a blessing on himself.” A formalized word of blessing is in view, the content of which appears later in the verse.

[29:19]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “heart.”

[29:19]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.

[29:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the watered with the parched.” The word “ground” is implied. The exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain although it appears to be figurative. This appears to be a proverbial observation employing a figure of speech (a merism) suggesting totality. That is, the Israelite who violates the letter and even spirit of the covenant will harm not only himself but everything he touches – “the watered and the parched.” Cf. CEV “you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you.”

[72:1]  ⁴⁸ sn Psalm 72. This royal psalm contains a prayer for the Davidic king (note the imperatival form in v. 1 and the jussive forms in vv. 16-17). It is not entirely clear if vv. 2-15 express a prayer or anticipate a future reign. The translation assumes a blend of petition and vision: (I) opening prayer (v. 1), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 2-7); (II) prayer (v. 8), followed by anticipated results if prayer is answered (vv. 9-14); (III) closing prayer (vv. 15-17). Whether a prayer, vision, or combination of the two, the psalm depicts the king’s universal rule of peace and prosperity. As such it is indirectly messianic, for the ideal it expresses will only be fully realized during the Messiah’s earthly reign. Verses 18-19 are a conclusion for Book 2 of the Psalter (Pss 42-72; cf. Ps 41:13, which contains a similar conclusion for Book 1), while v. 20 appears to be a remnant of an earlier collection of psalms or an earlier edition of the Psalter.

[72:1]  ⁴⁹ tn The preposition could be understood as indicating authorship (“Of Solomon”), but since the psalm is a prayer for a king, it may be that the superscription reflects a tradition that understood this as a prayer for Solomon.

[72:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “O God, your judgments to [the] king give.”

[72:1]  ⁵¹ sn Grant the king…Grant the king’s son. It is not entirely clear whether v. 1 envisions one individual or two. The phrase “the king’s son” in the second line may simply refer to “the king” of the first line, drawing attention to the fact that he has inherited his dynastic rule. Another option is that v. 1 envisions a co-regency between father and son (a common phenomenon in ancient Israel) or simply expresses a hope for a dynasty that champions justice.

[72:1]  ⁵² tn Heb “and your justice to [the] son of [the] king.”

[72:20]  ⁵³ tn Heb “the prayers of David, son of Jesse, are concluded.” As noted earlier, v. 20 appears to be a remnant of an earlier collection of psalms or an earlier edition of the Psalter. In the present arrangement of the Book of Psalms, not all psalms prior to this are attributed to David (see Pss 1-2, 10, 33, 42-50, 66-67, 71-72) and several psalms attributed to David appear after this (see Pss 86, 101, 103, 108-110, 122, 124, 131, 138-145).

[24:45]  ⁵⁴ sn Luke does not mention specific texts here, but it is likely that many of the scriptures he mentioned elsewhere in Luke-Acts would have been among those he had in mind.

[24:46]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[24:46]  ⁵⁶ tn Three Greek infinitives are the key to this summary: (1) to suffer, (2) to rise, and (3) to be preached. The Christ (Messiah) would be slain, would be raised, and a message about repentance would go out into all the world as a result. All of this was recorded in the scripture. The remark shows the continuity between Jesus’ ministry, the scripture, and what disciples would be doing as they declared the Lord risen.

[24:47]  ⁵⁷ sn This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.

[24:47]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “preached,” “announced.”

[24:47]  ⁵⁹ sn To all nations. The same Greek term (τὰ ἔθνη, ta eqnh) may be translated “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” The hope of God in Christ was for all the nations from the beginning.

[24:47]  ⁶⁰ sn Beginning from Jerusalem. See Acts 2, which is where it all starts.

[24:48]  ⁶¹ sn You are witnesses. This becomes a key concept of testimony in Acts. See Acts 1:8.

[24:49]  ⁶² tn Grk “sending on you.”

[24:49]  ⁶³ tn Grk “the promise of my Father,” with τοῦ πατρός (tou patros) translated as a subjective genitive. This is a reference to the Holy Spirit and looks back to how one could see Messiah had come with the promise of old (Luke 3:15-18). The promise is rooted in Jer 31:31 and Ezek 36:26.

[24:49]  ⁶⁴ sn The city refers to Jerusalem.

[24:49]  ⁶⁵ sn Until you have been clothed with power refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What the Spirit supplies is enablement. See Luke 12:11-12; 21:12-15. The difference the Spirit makes can be seen in Peter (compare Luke 22:54-62 with Acts 2:14-41).

[24:50]  ⁶⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:50]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:50]  ⁶⁸ sn Bethany was village on the Mount of Olives about 2 mi (3 km) from Jerusalem; see John 11:1, 18.

[24:51]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[24:51]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “while he blessed them.”

[24:51]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “he departed from them.”

[24:51]  ⁷² tc The reference to the ascension (“and was taken up into heaven”) is lacking in א* D it sy^s, but it is found in Ì⁷⁵ and the rest of the ms tradition. The authenticity of the statement here seems to be presupposed in Acts 1:2, for otherwise it is difficult to account for Luke’s reference to the ascension there. For a helpful discussion, see TCGNT 162-63.

[17:9]  ⁷³ tn Grk “I am asking.”

[17:9]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “I am not asking.”

[17:9]  ⁷⁵ tn Or “because they are yours.”

[17:10]  ⁷⁶ tn Grk And all things.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:10]  ⁷⁷ tn Or “Everything I have is yours.”

[17:10]  ⁷⁸ tn Or “everything you have is mine.”

[17:10]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “I have been honored among them.”

[17:11]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk And I.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:11]  ⁸¹ tn The context indicates that this should be translated as an adversative or contrastive conjunction.

[17:11]  ⁸² tn Or “protect them”; Grk “keep them.”

[17:11]  ⁸³ tn Or “by your name.”

[17:11]  ⁸⁴ tn The second repetition of “one” is implied, and is supplied here for clarity.

[17:12]  ⁸⁵ tn Or “I protected them”; Grk “I kept them.”

[17:12]  ⁸⁶ tn Grk “and guarded them.”

[17:12]  ⁸⁷ tn Or “by your name.”

[17:12]  ⁸⁸ tn Grk And not one.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:12]  ⁸⁹ tn Grk “the son of destruction” (a Semitic idiom for one appointed for destruction; here it is a reference to Judas).

[17:12]  ⁹⁰ sn A possible allusion to Ps 41:9 or Prov 24:22 LXX. The exact passage is not specified here, but in John 13:18, Ps 41:9 is explicitly quoted by Jesus with reference to the traitor, suggesting that this is the passage to which Jesus refers here. The previous mention of Ps 41:9 in John 13:18 probably explains why the author felt no need for an explanatory parenthetical note here. It is also possible that the passage referred to here is Prov 24:22 LXX, where in the Greek text the phrase “son of destruction” appears.

[17:13]  ⁹¹ tn Grk “they may have.”

[17:13]  ⁹² tn Or “fulfilled.”

[1:8]  ⁹³ tn Or “to the ends.”

[8:17]  ⁹⁴ tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the Samaritans) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:17]  ⁹⁵ sn They received the Holy Spirit. It is likely this special distribution of the Spirit took place because a key ethnic boundary was being crossed. Here are some of “those far off” of Acts 2:38-40.

[20:25]  ⁹⁶ tn Grk “And now, behold.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

[20:25]  ⁹⁷ tn Grk “all of you…will not see.” Greek handles its negation somewhat differently from English, and the translation follows English grammatical conventions.

[20:25]  ⁹⁸ sn Note how Paul’s usage of the expression proclaiming the kingdom is associated with (and intertwined with) his testifying to the good news of God’s grace in v. 24. For Paul the two concepts were interrelated.

[20:25]  ⁹⁹ tn Grk “will see my face” (an idiom for seeing someone in person).

[20:26]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Or “testify.”

[20:26]  ¹⁰¹ tn Grk “clean, pure,” thus “guiltless” (BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a).

[20:26]  ¹⁰² tn That is, “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible” (an idiom). According to L&N 33.223, the meaning of the phrase “that I am innocent of the blood of all of you” is “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible.” However, due to the length of this phrase and its familiarity to many modern English readers, the translation was kept closer to formal equivalence in this case. The word “you” is not in the Greek text, but is implied; Paul is addressing the Ephesian congregation (in the person of its elders) in both v. 25 and 27.

[20:27]  ¹⁰³ tn Or “did not avoid.” BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 2.b has “shrink from, avoid implying fear…οὐ γὰρ ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι I did not shrink from proclaiming Ac 20:27”; L&N 13.160 has “to hold oneself back from doing something, with the implication of some fearful concern – ‘to hold back from, to shrink from, to avoid’…‘for I have not held back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God’ Ac 20:27.”

[20:27]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Or “proclaiming,” “declaring.”

[20:27]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Or “plan.”

[20:28]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Or “Be on your guard for” (cf. v. 29). Paul completed his responsibility to the Ephesians with this warning.

[20:28]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Grk “in which.”

[20:28]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Or “guardians.” BDAG 379-80 s.v. ἐπίσκοπος 2 states, “The term was taken over in Christian communities in ref. to one who served as overseer or supervisor, with special interest in guarding the apostolic tradition…Ac 20:28.” This functional term describes the role of the elders (see v. 17). They were to guard and shepherd the congregation.

[20:28]  ¹⁰⁹ tc The reading “of God” (τοῦ θεοῦ, tou qeou) is found in א B 614 1175 1505 al vg sy; other witnesses have “of the Lord” (τοῦ κυρίου, tou kuriou) here (so Ì⁷⁴ A C* D E Ψ 33 1739 al co), while the majority of the later minuscule mss conflate these two into “of the Lord and God” (τοῦ κυρίου καὶ [τοῦ] θεοῦ, tou kuriou kai [tou] qeou). Although the evidence is evenly balanced between the first two readings, τοῦ θεοῦ is decidedly superior on internal grounds. The final prepositional phrase of this verse, διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου (dia tou {aimato" tou idiou), could be rendered “through his own blood” or “through the blood of his own.” In the latter translation, the object that “own” modifies must be supplied (see tn below for discussion). But this would not be entirely clear to scribes; those who supposed that ἰδίου modified αἵματος would be prone to alter “God” to “Lord” to avoid the inference that God had blood. In a similar way, later scribes would be prone to conflate the two titles, thereby affirming the deity (with the construction τοῦ κυρίου καὶ θεοῦ following the Granville Sharp rule and referring to a single person [see ExSyn 272, 276-77, 290]) and substitutionary atonement of Christ. For these reasons, τοῦ θεοῦ best explains the rise of the other readings and should be considered authentic.

[20:28]  ¹¹⁰ tn Or “acquired.”

[20:28]  ¹¹¹ tn Or “with his own blood”; Grk “with the blood of his own.” The genitive construction could be taken in two ways: (1) as an attributive genitive (second attributive position) meaning “his own blood”; or (2) as a possessive genitive, “with the blood of his own.” In this case the referent is the Son, and the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. See further C. F. DeVine, “The Blood of God,” CBQ 9 (1947): 381-408.

[20:29]  ¹¹² tn Grk “after my departure.”

[20:29]  ¹¹³ tn That is, people like fierce wolves. See BDAG 167-68 s.v. βαρύς 4 on the term translated “fierce.” The battle that will follow would be a savage one.

[20:30]  ¹¹⁴ tn Grk “from among yourselves.”

[20:30]  ¹¹⁵ tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only rarely is used in a generic sense to refer to both males and females. Since Paul is speaking to the Ephesian elders at this point and there is nothing in the context to suggest women were included in that group (“from among your own group”), it is most likely Paul was not predicting that these false teachers would include women.

[20:30]  ¹¹⁶ tn Grk “speaking crooked things”; BDAG 237 s.v. διαστρέφω 2 has “λαλεῖν διεστραμμένα teach perversions (of the truth) Ac 20:30.”

[20:31]  ¹¹⁷ tn Or “be watchful.”

[20:31]  ¹¹⁸ tn Or “admonishing.”

[20:32]  ¹¹⁹ tn Or “commend.” BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 3.b has “τινά τινι entrust someone to the care or protection of someone…Of divine protection παρέθεντο αὐτοὺς τῷ κυρίῳ Ac 14:23; cp. 20:32.”

[20:32]  ¹²⁰ tn Grk “word.”

[20:32]  ¹²¹ tn Grk “the message of his grace, which.” The phrase τῷ δυναμένῳ οἰκοδομῆσαι… (tw dunamenw oikodomhsai…) refers to τῷ λόγω (tw logw), not τῆς χάριτος (ths caritos); in English it could refer to either “the message” or “grace,” but in Greek, because of agreement in gender, the referent can only be “the message.” To make this clear, a new sentence was begun in the translation and the referent “the message” was repeated at the beginning of this new sentence.

[20:33]  ¹²² tn Traditionally, “coveted.” BDAG 371 s.v. ἐπιθυμέω 1 has “to have a strong desire to do or secure someth., desire, long for w. gen. of the thing desired…silver, gold, clothing Ac 20:33.” The traditional term “covet” is not in common usage and difficult for many modern English readers to understand. The statement affirms Paul’s integrity. He was not doing this for personal financial gain.

[20:34]  ¹²³ tn The words “of mine” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify whose hands Paul is referring to.

[20:35]  ¹²⁴ sn The expression By all these things means “In everything I did.”

[20:35]  ¹²⁵ tn Or “must assist.”

[20:35]  ¹²⁶ tn Or “the sick.” See Eph 4:28.

[20:35]  ¹²⁷ sn The saying is similar to Matt 10:8. Service and generosity should be abundant. Interestingly, these exact words are not found in the gospels. Paul must have known of this saying from some other source.

[20:36]  ¹²⁸ tn Grk “And when.” 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.

[20:36]  ¹²⁹ tn Grk “kneeling down…he prayed.” The participle θείς (qeis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.