2 Kings 10:16

10:16 Jehu ¹  said, “Come with me and see how zealous I am for the Lord’s cause.” ²  So he ³  took him along in his chariot.

John 16:2

16:2 They will put you out of ⁴  the synagogue, ⁵  yet a time ⁶  is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God. ⁷ 

Acts 21:20

21:20 When they heard this, they praised ⁸  God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews ⁹  there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers ¹⁰  of the law. ¹¹ 

Acts 21:28

21:28 shouting, “Men of Israel, ¹²  help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, ¹³  and this sanctuary! ¹⁴  Furthermore ¹⁵  he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple ¹⁶  and made this holy place ritually unclean!” ¹⁷ 

Acts 22:3

22:3 “I am a Jew, ¹⁸  born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up ¹⁹  in this city, educated with strictness ²⁰  under ²¹  Gamaliel ²²  according to the law of our ancestors, ²³  and was ²⁴  zealous ²⁵  for God just as all of you are today.

Acts 22:22

The Roman Commander Questions Paul

22:22 The crowd ²⁶  was listening to him until he said this. ²⁷  Then ²⁸  they raised their voices and shouted, ²⁹  “Away with this man ³⁰  from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live!” ³¹ 

Acts 26:9-10

26:9 Of course, ³²  I myself was convinced ³³  that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene. 26:10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received ³⁴  from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote ³⁵  against them when they were sentenced to death. ³⁶ 

Galatians 1:14

1:14 I ³⁷  was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, ³⁸  and was ³⁹  extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. ⁴⁰ 

Galatians 4:17-18

4:17 They court you eagerly, ⁴¹  but for no good purpose; ⁴²  they want to exclude you, so that you would seek them eagerly. ⁴³  4:18 However, it is good ⁴⁴  to be sought eagerly ⁴⁵  for a good purpose ⁴⁶  at all times, and not only when I am present with you.

Philippians 3:6

3:6 In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless.

[10:16]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:16]  ² tn Heb “and see my zeal for the Lord.”

[10:16]  ³ tc The MT has a plural form, but this is most likely an error. The LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate all have the singular.

[16:2]  ⁴ tn Or “expel you from.”

[16:2]  ⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

[16:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “an hour.”

[16:2]  ⁷ sn Jesus now refers not to the time of his return to the Father, as he has frequently done up to this point, but to the disciples’ time of persecution. They will be excommunicated from Jewish synagogues. There will even be a time when those who kill Jesus’ disciples will think that they are offering service to God by putting the disciples to death. Because of the reference to service offered to God, it is almost certain that Jewish opposition is intended here in both cases rather than Jewish opposition in the first instance (putting the disciples out of synagogues) and Roman opposition in the second (putting the disciples to death). Such opposition materializes later and is recorded in Acts: The stoning of Stephen in 7:58-60 and the slaying of James the brother of John by Herod Agrippa I in Acts 12:2-3 are notable examples.

[21:20]  ⁸ tn Or “glorified.”

[21:20]  ⁹ tn Grk “how many thousands there are among the Jews.”

[21:20]  ¹⁰ tn Or “are all zealous for the law.” BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.β has “of thing…τοῦ νόμου an ardent observer of the law Ac 21:20.”

[21:20]  ¹¹ sn That is, the law of Moses. These Jewish Christians had remained close to their Jewish practices after becoming believers (1 Cor 7:18-19; Acts 16:3).

[21:28]  ¹² tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage since “the whole crowd” is mentioned in v. 27, although it can also be argued that these remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

[21:28]  ¹³ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[21:28]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “this place.”

[21:28]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 400 s.v. ἔτι 2.b has “ἔ. δὲ καί furthermore…al. ἔ. τε καί…Lk 14:26; Ac 21:28.” This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek, but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[21:28]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “into the temple.” The specific reference is to the Court of the Sons of Israel (see the note following the term “unclean” at the end of this verse). To avoid giving the modern reader the impression that they entered the temple building itself, the phrase “the inner courts of the temple” has been used in the translation.

[21:28]  ¹⁷ tn Or “and has defiled this holy place.”

[22:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “a Jewish man.”

[22:3]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b has “of mental and spiritual nurture bring up, rear, train…ἀνατεθραμμένος ἐν τ. πόλει ταύτῃ 22:3.”

[22:3]  ²⁰ tn Or “with precision.” Although often translated “strictly” this can be misunderstood for “solely” in English. BDAG 39 s.v. ἀκρίβεια gives the meaning as “exactness, precision.” To avoid the potential misunderstanding the translation “with strictness” is used, although it is slightly more awkward than “strictly.”

[22:3]  ²¹ tn Grk “strictly at the feet of” (an idiom).

[22:3]  ²² tn Or “brought up in this city under Gamaliel, educated with strictness…” The phrase παρὰ τοὺς πόδας Γαμαλιὴλ (para tou" poda" Gamalihl) could be understood with what precedes or with what follows. The punctuation of NA²⁷ and UBS⁴, which place a comma after ταύτῃ (tauth), has been followed in the translation.

[22:3]  ²³ tn Or “our forefathers.”

[22:3]  ²⁴ tn Grk “ancestors, being.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[22:3]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.α has “of pers. …ζ. τοῦ θεοῦ one who is loyal to God Ac 22:3.”

[22:22]  ²⁶ tn Grk “They were listening”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:22]  ²⁷ tn Grk “until this word.”

[22:22]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And.” To indicate the logical sequence, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” here.

[22:22]  ²⁹ tn Grk “and said.”

[22:22]  ³⁰ tn Grk “this one.”

[22:22]  ³¹ tn BDAG 491 s.v. καθήκω has “to be appropriate, come/reach to, be proper/fitting…Usu. impers. καθήκει it comes (to someone)…foll. by acc. and inf….οὐ καθῆκεν αὐτὸν ζῆν he should not be allowed to live Ac 22:22.”

[26:9]  ³² tn BDAG 737 s.v. οὖν 3 states, “It has been proposed that some traces of older Gk. usage in which οὖν is emphatic, = certainly, really, to be sure etc. (s. L-S-J-M s.v. 1) remain in the pap…and in the NT…indeed, of course Ac 26:9.”

[26:9]  ³³ tn Grk “I thought to myself.” BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.a has “ἔδοξα ἐμαυτῷ δεῖν πρᾶξαι = Lat. mihi videbar I was convinced that it was necessary to do Ac 26:9.”

[26:10]  ³⁴ tn Grk “by receiving authority.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been taken instrumentally.

[26:10]  ³⁵ tn Grk “cast down a pebble against them.” L&N 30.103 states, “(an idiom, Grk ‘to bring a pebble against someone,’ a reference to a white or black pebble used in voting for or against someone) to make known one’s choice against someone – ‘to vote against.’ …‘when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them’ Ac 26:10.”

[26:10]  ³⁶ tn Grk “when they were being executed”; but the context supports the sentencing rather than the execution itself (cf. L&N 30.103).

[1:14]  ³⁷ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:14]  ³⁸ tn Or “among my race.”

[1:14]  ³⁹ tn Grk “was advancing beyond…nation, being.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) was translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[1:14]  ⁴⁰ sn The traditions of my ancestors refers to both Pharisaic and popular teachings of this time which eventually were codified in Jewish literature such as the Mishnah, Midrashim, and Targums.

[4:17]  ⁴¹ tn Or “They are zealous for you.”

[4:17]  ⁴² tn Or “but not commendably” (BDAG 505 s.v. καλῶς 2).

[4:17]  ⁴³ tn Or “so that you would be zealous.”

[4:18]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “commendable.”

[4:18]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “to be zealous.”

[4:18]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “But it is always good to be zealous in good.”