Acts 1:1

Jesus Ascends to Heaven

1:1 I wrote ¹  the former ²  account, ³  Theophilus, ⁴  about all that Jesus began to do and teach

Acts 25:2

25:2 So the chief priests and the most prominent men ⁵  of the Jews brought formal charges ⁶  against Paul to him.

Acts 16:12

16:12 and from there to Philippi, ⁷  which is a leading city of that district ⁸  of Macedonia, ⁹  a Roman colony. ¹⁰  We stayed in this city for some days.

Acts 26:23

26:23 that ¹¹  the Christ ¹²  was to suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, to proclaim light both to our people ¹³  and to the Gentiles.” ¹⁴ 

Acts 28:7

28:7 Now in the region around that place ¹⁵  were fields belonging to the chief official ¹⁶  of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably as guests for three days.

Acts 11:26

11:26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. ¹⁷  So ¹⁸  for a whole year Barnabas and Saul ¹⁹  met with the church and taught a significant number of people. ²⁰  Now it was in Antioch ²¹  that the disciples were first called Christians. ²² 

Acts 13:50

13:50 But the Jews incited ²³  the God-fearing women of high social standing and the prominent men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out ²⁴  of their region.

Acts 17:4

17:4 Some of them were persuaded ²⁵  and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group ²⁶  of God-fearing Greeks ²⁷  and quite a few ²⁸  prominent women.

Acts 20:18

20:18 When they arrived, he said to them, “You yourselves know how I lived ²⁹  the whole time I was with you, from the first day I set foot ³⁰  in the province of Asia, ³¹ 

Acts 27:43

27:43 But the centurion, ³²  wanting to save Paul’s life, ³³  prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land, ³⁴ 

Acts 12:10

12:10 After they had passed the first and second guards, ³⁵  they came to the iron ³⁶  gate leading into the city. It ³⁷  opened for them by itself, ³⁸  and they went outside and walked down one narrow street, ³⁹  when at once the angel left him.

Acts 28:17

Paul Addresses the Jewish Community in Rome

28:17 After three days ⁴⁰  Paul ⁴¹  called the local Jewish leaders ⁴²  together. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, ⁴³  although I had done ⁴⁴  nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, ⁴⁵  from Jerusalem ⁴⁶  I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans. ⁴⁷ 

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

[1:1]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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).

[25:2]  ⁵ tn BDAG 893-94 s.v. πρῶτος 2.a.β has “οἱ πρῶτοι the most prominent men, the leading men w. gen. of the place…or of a group…οἱ πρ. τοῦ λαοῦ…Lk 19:47; cp. Ac 25:2; 28:17.”

[25:2]  ⁶ tn BDAG 326 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 3 has “ἐ. τινὶ κατά τινος bring formal charges against someone…Ac 24:1; 25:2.”

[16:12]  ⁹ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[16:12]  ¹⁰ tc ‡ Or perhaps, “a city in the first district” (there are a number of textual variants). L&N 1.85 follow the text of UBS⁴ and NA²⁷ here: “In Ac 16:12…the Greek New Testament published by the United Bible Societies has adopted a conjectural emendation, since the more traditional text, πρώτη τῆς μερίδος, literally ‘first of the district,’ is not only misleading in meaning but does not reflect the historical fact that Philippi was a city in one of the four districts of Macedonia but was not a capital city.” The original text is probably πρώτη τῆς μερίδος (prwth th" merido", “first of that district”) as found in Ì⁷⁴ א A C Ψ 33^vid 36 81 323 945 1175 1891 pc. This has traditionally been translated to give the impression that Philippi was the capital city of the district, but it does not necessarily have to be translated this way. The translation of the article before μερίδος as “that” acknowledges that there were other districts in the province of Macedonia.

[16:12]  ¹¹ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[16:12]  ¹² sn A Roman colony was a city whose residents were regarded as Roman citizens, since such cities were originally colonized by citizens of Rome. From Troas to Philippi was 130 mi (208 km).

[26:23]  ¹³ tn BDAG 277-78 s.v. εἰ 2 has “marker of an indirect question as content, that…Sim. also (Procop. Soph., Ep. 123 χάριν ἔχειν εἰ = that) μαρτυρόμενος…εἰ παθητὸς ὁ Χριστός testifying…that the Christ was to suffer…Ac 26:23.”

[26:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[26:23]  ¹⁵ tn That is, to the Jewish people. Grk “the people”; the word “our” has been supplied to clarify the meaning.

[26:23]  ¹⁶ sn Note how the context of Paul’s gospel message about Jesus, resurrection, and light both to Jews and to the Gentiles is rooted in the prophetic message of the OT scriptures. Paul was guilty of following God’s call and preaching the scriptural hope.

[28:7]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 798 s.v. περί 2.a.γ states, “of nearby places…τὰ περὶ τὸν τὸπον the region around the place Ac 28:7.” The presence of ἐκεῖνον (ekeinon) results in the translation “that place.”

[28:7]  ¹⁸ tn That is, the chief Roman official. Several inscriptions have confirmed the use of πρῶτος (prwtos) as an administrative title used on the island of Malta for the highest Roman official. See further BDAG 852 s.v. Πόπλιος.

[11:26]  ²¹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

[11:26]  ²² tn Grk “So it happened that” 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.

[11:26]  ²³ tn Grk “year they”; the referents (Barnabas and Saul) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:26]  ²⁴ tn Grk “a significant crowd.”

[11:26]  ²⁵ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

[11:26]  ²⁶ sn The term Christians appears only here, in Acts 26:28, and 1 Pet 4:16 in the NT.

[13:50]  ²⁵ tn For the translation of παρώτρυναν (parwtrunan) as “incited” see BDAG 780 s.v. παροτρύνω.

[13:50]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 299 s.v. ἐκβάλλω 1 has “throw out.” Once again, many Jews reacted to the message (Acts 5:17, 33; 6:11; 13:45).

[17:4]  ²⁹ tn Or “convinced.”

[17:4]  ³⁰ tn Or “a large crowd.”

[17:4]  ³¹ tn Or “of devout Greeks,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Luke frequently mentions such people (Acts 13:43, 50; 16:14; 17:17; 18:7).

[17:4]  ³² tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).

[20:18]  ³³ tn Grk “You yourselves know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time.” This could be understood to mean “how I stayed with you the whole time,” but the following verses make it clear that Paul’s lifestyle while with the Ephesians is in view here. Thus the translation “how I lived the whole time I was with you” makes this clear.

[20:18]  ³⁴ tn Or “I arrived.” BDAG 367 s.v. ἐπιβαίνω 2, “set foot in…εἰς τ. ᾿Ασίαν set foot in Asia Ac 20:18.” However, L&N 15.83 removes the idiom: “you know that since the first day that I came to Asia.”

[20:18]  ³⁵ tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 16.

[27:43]  ³⁷ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:43]  ³⁸ tn Or “wanting to rescue Paul.”

[27:43]  ³⁹ tn BDAG 347 s.v. I. ἔξειμι has “ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν get to land Ac 27:43.”

[12:10]  ⁴¹ tn Or perhaps, “guard posts.”

[12:10]  ⁴² sn The iron gate shows how important security was here. This door was more secure than one made of wood (which would be usual).

[12:10]  ⁴³ tn Grk “which.” The relative pronoun (“which”) was replaced by the pronoun “it,” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.

[12:10]  ⁴⁴ tn The Greek term here, αὐτομάτη (automath), indicates something that happens without visible cause (BDAG 152 s.v. αὐτόματος).

[12:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “lane,” “alley” (BDAG 907 s.v. ῥύμη).

[28:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “It happened that after three days.” 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.

[28:17]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:17]  ⁴⁷ tn L&N 33.309 has “‘after three days, he called the local Jewish leaders together’ Ac 28:17.”

[28:17]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[28:17]  ⁴⁹ tn The participle ποιήσας (poihsas) has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[28:17]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[28:17]  ⁵¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[28:17]  ⁵² tn Grk “into the hands of the Romans,” but this is redundant when παρεδόθην (paredoqhn) has been translated “handed over.”