Acts 20:33-35

20:33 I have desired ¹  no one’s silver or gold or clothing. 20:34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine ²  provided for my needs and the needs of those who were with me. 20:35 By all these things, ³  I have shown you that by working in this way we must help ⁴  the weak, ⁵  and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” ⁶ 

Acts 20:2

20:2 After he had gone through those regions ⁷  and spoken many words of encouragement ⁸  to the believers there, ⁹  he came to Greece, ¹⁰ 

Acts 3:9

3:9 All ¹¹  the people saw him walking and praising God,

Acts 3:1

Peter and John Heal a Lame Man at the Temple

3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time ¹²  for prayer, ¹³  at three o’clock in the afternoon. ¹⁴ 

Acts 4:12

4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people ¹⁵  by which we must ¹⁶  be saved.”

Acts 4:1

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ¹⁷  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ¹⁸  of the temple guard ¹⁹  and the Sadducees ²⁰  came up ²¹  to them,

Acts 5:3

5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled ²²  your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of ²³  the land?

[20:33]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The words “of mine” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify whose hands Paul is referring to.

[20:35]  ³ sn The expression By all these things means “In everything I did.”

[20:35]  ⁴ tn Or “must assist.”

[20:35]  ⁵ tn Or “the sick.” See Eph 4:28.

[20:35]  ⁶ 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.

[20:2]  ⁷ tn BDAG 633 s.v. μέρος 1.b.γ gives the meanings “the parts (of a geographical area), region, district,” but the use of “district” in this context probably implies too much specificity.

[20:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “and encouraging them with many words.” The participle παρακαλέσας (parakalesa", “encouraging”) has been translated by the phrase “spoken…words of encouragement” because the formal equivalent is awkward in contemporary English.

[20:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “[to] them”; the referent (the believers there) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:2]  ¹⁰ tn In popular usage the term translated “Greece” here could also refer to the Roman province officially known as Achaia (BDAG 318 s.v. ῾Ελλάς).

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And all.” 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.

[3:1]  ¹² tn Grk “hour.”

[3:1]  ¹³ sn Going up to the temple at the time for prayer. The earliest Christians, being of Jewish roots, were still participating in the institutions of Judaism at this point. Their faith in Christ did not make them non-Jewish in their practices.

[3:1]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “at the ninth hour.” This is calculated from sunrise (Josephus, Ant. 14.4.3 [14.65]; Dan 9:21).

[4:12]  ¹⁵ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[4:12]  ¹⁶ sn Must be saved. The term used here (δεῖ, dei, “it is necessary”) reflects the necessity set up by God’s directive plan.

[4:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:1]  ¹⁸ tn Or “captain.”

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

[4:1]  ²⁰ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[4:1]  ²¹ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).

[5:3]  ²² sn This is a good example of the Greek verb fill (πληρόω, plhrow) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” (cf. Eph 5:18).

[5:3]  ²³ tn The words “from the sale of” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the meaning, since the phrase “proceeds from the land” could possibly be understood as crops rather than money from the sale.