Acts 1:25

1:25 to assume the task ¹  of this service ²  and apostleship from which Judas turned aside ³  to go to his own place.” ⁴ 

Acts 1:1

Jesus Ascends to Heaven

1:1 I wrote ⁵  the former ⁶  account, ⁷  Theophilus, ⁸  about all that Jesus began to do and teach

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁹  brothers and sisters ¹⁰  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹¹  from God our Father! ¹² 

Galatians 2:8-9

2:8 (for he who empowered ¹³  Peter for his apostleship ¹⁴  to the circumcised ¹⁵  also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) ¹⁶  2:9 and when James, Cephas, ¹⁷  and John, who had a reputation as ¹⁸  pillars, ¹⁹  recognized ²⁰  the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me ²¹  the right hand of fellowship, agreeing ²²  that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ²³ 

[1:25]  ¹ tn Grk “to take the place.”

[1:25]  ² tn Or “of this ministry.”

[1:25]  ³ tn Or “the task of this service and apostleship which Judas ceased to perform.”

[1:25]  ⁴ sn To go to his own place. This may well be a euphemism for Judas’ judged fate. He separated himself from them, and thus separated he would remain.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Or “produced,” Grk “made.”

[1:1]  ⁶ 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).

[1:1]  ⁷ 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.

[1:1]  ⁸ 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).

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ¹² tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[2:8]  ¹³ tn Or “worked through”; the same word is also used in relation to Paul later in this verse.

[2:8]  ¹⁴ tn Or “his ministry as an apostle.”

[2:8]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to the circumcision,” i.e., the Jewish people.

[2:8]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “also empowered me to the Gentiles.”

[2:9]  ¹⁷ sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

[2:9]  ¹⁸ tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.

[2:9]  ¹⁹ sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.

[2:9]  ²⁰ tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.

[2:9]  ²¹ tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”

[2:9]  ²² tn Grk “so,” with the ἵνα (Jina) indicating the result of the “pillars” extending the “right hand of fellowship,” but the translation “they gave…the right hand of fellowship so that we would go” could be misunderstood as purpose here. The implication of the scene is that an agreement, outlined at the end of v. 10, was reached between Paul and Barnabas on the one hand and the “pillars” of the Jerusalem church on the other.

[2:9]  ²³ tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.