Acts 7:59

7:59 They ¹  continued to stone Stephen while he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

Acts 12:2

12:2 He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. ² 

Acts 26:10-11

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 ³  from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote ⁴  against them when they were sentenced to death. ⁵  26:11 I punished ⁶  them often in all the synagogues ⁷  and tried to force ⁸  them to blaspheme. Because I was so furiously enraged ⁹  at them, I went to persecute ¹⁰  them even in foreign cities.

Revelation 2:13

2:13 ‘I know ¹¹  where you live – where Satan’s throne is. Yet ¹²  you continue to cling ¹³  to my name and you have not denied your ¹⁴  faith in me, ¹⁵  even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, ¹⁶  who was killed in your city ¹⁷  where Satan lives.

Revelation 6:9

6:9 Now ¹⁸  when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed ¹⁹  because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given.

Revelation 12:11

12:11 But ²⁰  they overcame him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their lives ²¹  so much that they were afraid to die.

[7:59]  ¹ tn Grk “And they.” 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; a new sentence is begun instead.

[12:2]  ² sn The expression executed with a sword probably refers to a beheading. James was the first known apostolic martyr (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.9.1-3). On James, not the Lord’s brother, see Luke 5:10; 6:14. This death ended a short period of peace noted in Acts 9:31 after the persecution mentioned in 8:1-3.

[26:10]  ³ tn Grk “by receiving authority.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been taken instrumentally.

[26:10]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “when they were being executed”; but the context supports the sentencing rather than the execution itself (cf. L&N 30.103).

[26:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “and punishing…I tried.” The participle τιμωρῶν (timwrwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. 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.

[26:11]  ⁷ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[26:11]  ⁸ tn The imperfect verb ἠνάγκαζον (hnankazon) has been translated as a conative imperfect (so BDAG 60 s.v. ἀναγκάζω 1, which has “ἠνάγκαζον βλασφημεῖν I tried to force them to blaspheme Ac 26:11”).

[26:11]  ⁹ tn Or “was so insanely angry with them.” BDAG 322 s.v. ἐμμαίνομαι states, “to be filled with such anger that one appears to be mad, be enraged…περισσῶς ἐμμαινόμενος αὐτοῖς being furiously enraged at them Ac 26:11”; L&N 88.182 s.v. ἐμμαίνομαι, “to be so furiously angry with someone as to be almost out of one’s mind – ‘to be enraged, to be infuriated, to be insanely angry’ …‘I was so infuriated with them that I even went to foreign cities to persecute them’ Ac 26:11.”

[26:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “I pursued them even as far as foreign cities.”

[2:13]  ¹¹ tc The shorter reading adopted here has superior ms support (א A C P 2053 al latt co), while the inclusion of “your works and” (τὰ ἔργα σου καί, ta erga sou kai) before “where you reside” is supported by the Byzantine witnesses and is evidently a secondary attempt to harmonize the passage with 2:2, 19; 3:1, 8, 15.

[2:13]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Yet” to indicate the contrast between their location and their faithful behavior.

[2:13]  ¹³ tn The present indicative verb κρατεῖς (kratei") has been translated as a progressive present.

[2:13]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the faith”; here the Greek article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:13]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the faith of me” (τὴν πίστιν μου, thn pistin mou) with the genitive “of me” (μου) functioning objectively.

[2:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “martyr.” The Greek word μάρτυς can mean either “witness” or “martyr.”

[2:13]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “killed among you.” The term “city” does not occur in the Greek text of course, but the expression παρ᾿ ὑμῖν, ὅπου ὁ σατανᾶς κατοικεῖ (par’ Jumin, {opou Jo satana" katoikei) seems to indicate that this is what is meant. See G. B. Caird, Revelation (HNTC), 36-38.

[6:9]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a new and somewhat different topic after the introduction of the four riders.

[6:9]  ¹⁹ tn Or “murdered.” See the note on the word “butcher” in 6:4.

[12:11]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast.

[12:11]  ²¹ sn They did not love their lives. See Matt 16:25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25.