Acts 1:2-3

1:2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, ¹  after he had given orders ²  by ³  the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 1:3 To the same apostles ⁴  also, after his suffering, ⁵  he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a forty-day period ⁶  and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God.

[1:2]  ¹ tn The words “to heaven” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied from v. 11. Several modern translations (NIV, NRSV) supply the words “to heaven” after “taken up” to specify the destination explicitly mentioned later in 1:11.

[1:2]  ² tn Or “commands.” Although some modern translations render ἐντειλάμενος (enteilameno") as “instructions” (NIV, NRSV), the word implies authority or official sanction (G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:545), so that a word like “orders” conveys the idea more effectively. The action of the temporal participle is antecedent (prior) to the action of the verb it modifies (“taken up”).

[1:2]  ³ tn Or “through.”

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:3]  ⁵ sn After his suffering is a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion and the abuse which preceded it.

[1:3]  ⁶ tn Grk “during forty days.” The phrase “over a forty-day period” is used rather than “during forty days” because (as the other NT accounts of Jesus’ appearances make clear) Jesus was not continually visible to the apostles during the forty days, but appeared to them on various occasions.