Acts 17:24-25

17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, ¹  who is ²  Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, ³  17:25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, ⁴  because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone. ⁵ 

Acts 17:1

Paul and Silas at Thessalonica

17:1 After they traveled through ⁶  Amphipolis ⁷  and Apollonia, ⁸  they came to Thessalonica, ⁹  where there was a Jewish synagogue. ¹⁰ 

Acts 8:27

8:27 So ¹¹  he got up ¹²  and went. There ¹³  he met ¹⁴  an Ethiopian eunuch, ¹⁵  a court official of Candace, ¹⁶  queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He ¹⁷  had come to Jerusalem to worship, ¹⁸ 

Acts 8:2

8:2 Some ¹⁹  devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation ²⁰  over him. ²¹ 

Acts 2:5-6

2:5 Now there were devout Jews ²²  from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. ²³  2:6 When this sound ²⁴  occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, ²⁵  because each one heard them speaking in his own language.

Acts 6:1

The Appointment of the First Seven Deacons

6:1 Now in those ²⁶  days, when the disciples were growing in number, ²⁷  a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews ²⁸  against the native Hebraic Jews, ²⁹  because their widows ³⁰  were being overlooked ³¹  in the daily distribution of food. ³² 

[17:24]  ¹ tn Grk “all the things that are in it.” The speech starts with God as Creator, like 14:15.

[17:24]  ² tn Or “because he is.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) could be either adjectival, modifying οὗτος (Joutos, “who is Lord…”) or adverbial of cause (“because he is Lord…”). Since the participle διδούς (didou") in v. 25 appears to be clearly causal in force, it is preferable to understand ὑπάρχων as adjectival in this context.

[17:24]  ³ sn On the statement does not live in temples made by human hands compare Acts 7:48. This has implications for idols as well. God cannot be represented by them or, as the following clause also suggests, served by human hands.

[17:25]  ⁴ tn L&N 57.45 has “nor does he need anything more that people can supply by working for him.”

[17:25]  ⁵ tn Grk “he himself gives to all [people] life and breath and all things.”

[17:1]  ⁶ tn BDAG 250 s.v. διοδεύω 1 has “go, travel through” for this verse.

[17:1]  ⁷ sn Amphipolis. The capital city of the southeastern district of Macedonia (BDAG 55 s.v. ᾿Αμφίπολις). It was a military post. From Philippi this was about 33 mi (53 km).

[17:1]  ⁸ sn Apollonia was a city in Macedonia about 27 mi (43 km) west southwest of Amphipolis.

[17:1]  ⁹ sn Thessalonica (modern Salonica) was a city in Macedonia about 33 mi (53 km) west of Apollonia. It was the capital of Macedonia. The road they traveled over was called the Via Egnatia. It is likely they rode horses, given their condition in Philippi. The implication of v. 1 is that the two previously mentioned cities lacked a synagogue.

[17:1]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[8:27]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And,” but καί (kai) carries something of a resultative force in this context because what follows describes Philip’s response to the angel’s command.

[8:27]  ¹² tn Grk “So getting up he went.” The aorist participle ἀναστάς (anastas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[8:27]  ¹³ tn Grk “And there.” 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.

[8:27]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and behold.” This expression is used to portray Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian in a vivid way. In the English translation this vividness is difficult to convey; it is necessary to supply the words “he met.”

[8:27]  ¹⁵ sn The term eunuch normally referred to a man who had been castrated, but this was not always the case (see Gen 39:1 LXX, where Potiphar is called a eunuch). Such castrated individuals were preferred as court officials in the East, although Judaism opposed the practice. The Mosaic law excluded eunuchs from Israel (Deut 23:1), although God certainly accepted them (Isa 56:3-5; Wis 3:14). This individual was a high official, since he was said to be in charge of all her treasury. He may or may not have been a eunuch physically. He appears to be the first fully Gentile convert to Christianity, since the Samaritans mentioned previously (Acts 8:4-25) were regarded as half-breeds.

[8:27]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the Candace” (the title of the queen of the Ethiopians). The term Κανδάκης (Kandakh") is much more likely a title rather than a proper name (like Pharaoh, which is a title); see L&N 37.77. A few, however, still take the word to be the name of the queen (L&N 93.209). BDAG 507 s.v. Κανδάκη, treats the term as a title and lists classical usage by Strabo (Geography 17.1.54) and others.

[8:27]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “who was over all her treasury, who.” The two consecutive relative clauses make for awkward English style, so the second was begun as a new sentence with the pronoun “he” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun to make a complete sentence in English.

[8:27]  ¹⁸ sn Since this man had come to Jerusalem to worship, he may have been a proselyte to Judaism. This event is a precursor to Acts 10.

[8:2]  ¹⁹ tn “Some” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[8:2]  ²⁰ sn Made loud lamentation. For someone who was stoned to death, lamentation was normally not allowed (m. Sanhedrin 6:6). The remark points to an unjust death.

[8:2]  ²¹ tn Or “mourned greatly for him.”

[2:5]  ²² tn Grk “Jews, devout men.” It is possible that only men are in view here in light of OT commands for Jewish men to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at various times during the year (cf. Exod 23:17, 34:23; Deut 16:16). However, other evidence seems to indicate that both men and women might be in view. Luke 2:41-52 shows that whole families would make the temporary trip to Jerusalem. In addition, it is probable that the audience consisted of families who had taken up permanent residence in Jerusalem. The verb κατοικέω (katoikew) normally means “reside” or “dwell,” and archaeological evidence from tombs in Jerusalem does indicate that many families immigrated to Jerusalem permanently (see B. Witherington, Acts, 135); this would naturally include women. Also, the word ἀνήρ (ajnhr), which usually does mean “male” or “man” (as opposed to woman), sometimes is used generically to mean “a person” (BDAG 79 s.v. 2; cf. Matt 12:41). Given this evidence, then, it is conceivable that the audience in view here is not individual male pilgrims but a mixed group of men and women.

[2:5]  ²³ tn Grk “Now there were residing in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.”

[2:6]  ²⁴ tn Or “this noise.”

[2:6]  ²⁵ tn Or “was bewildered.”

[6:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “these.” The translation uses “those” for stylistic reasons.

[6:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “were multiplying.”

[6:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the Hellenists,” but this descriptive term is largely unknown to the modern English reader. The translation “Greek-speaking Jews” attempts to convey something of who these were, but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of adoption of Greek culture as well.

[6:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “against the Hebrews,” but as with “Hellenists” this needs further explanation for the modern reader.

[6:1]  ³⁰ sn The care of widows is a major biblical theme: Deut 10:18; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12-13; 27:19; Isa 1:17-23; Jer 7:6; Mal 3:5.

[6:1]  ³¹ tn Or “neglected.”

[6:1]  ³² tn Grk “in the daily serving.”