Acts 4:5-6

4:5 On the next day, ¹  their rulers, elders, and experts in the law ²  came together ³  in Jerusalem. ⁴  4:6 Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family. ⁵ 

Acts 4:25-28

4:25 who said by the Holy Spirit through ⁶  your servant David our forefather, ⁷ 

‘Why do the nations ⁸  rage, ⁹ 

and the peoples plot foolish ¹⁰  things?

4:26 The kings of the earth stood together, ¹¹ 

and the rulers assembled together,

against the Lord and against his ¹²  Christ.’ ¹³ 

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ¹⁴  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ¹⁵  4:28 to do as much as your power ¹⁶  and your plan ¹⁷  had decided beforehand ¹⁸  would happen.

[4:5]  ¹ tn Grk “It happened that on the next day.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[4:5]  ² tn Or “and scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[4:5]  ³ tn Or “law assembled,” “law met together.”

[4:5]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:6]  ⁵ sn The high priest’s family. This family controlled the high priesthood as far back as a.d. 6. Annas, Caiaphas, and Alexander were all high priests at one time (though Alexander held that office after this event).

[4:25]  ⁶ tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).

[4:25]  ⁷ tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”

[4:25]  ⁸ tn Or “Gentiles.”

[4:25]  ⁹ sn The Greek word translated rage includes not only anger but opposition, both verbal and nonverbal. See L&N 88.185.

[4:25]  ¹⁰ tn Or “futile”; traditionally, “vain.”

[4:26]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally, “The kings of the earth took their stand.”

[4:26]  ¹² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[4:26]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Ps 2:1-2.

[4:27]  ¹⁴ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ¹⁵ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”

[4:28]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

[4:28]  ¹⁷ tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

[4:28]  ¹⁸ tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.