Acts 1:2

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.

Acts 1:24

1:24 Then they prayed, ⁴  “Lord, you know the hearts of all. Show us which one of these two you have chosen

Acts 15:25

15:25 we have unanimously ⁵  decided ⁶  to choose men to send to you along with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul,

Acts 6:5

6:5 The ⁷  proposal pleased the entire group, so ⁸  they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with ⁹  Philip, ¹⁰  Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism ¹¹  from Antioch. ¹² 

Acts 13:17

13:17 The God of this people Israel ¹³  chose our ancestors ¹⁴  and made the people great ¹⁵  during their stay as foreigners ¹⁶  in the country ¹⁷  of Egypt, and with uplifted arm ¹⁸  he led them out of it.

Acts 15:22

15:22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided ¹⁹  to send men chosen from among them, Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, ²⁰  leaders among the brothers, to Antioch ²¹  with Paul and Barnabas.

Acts 15:7

15:7 After there had been much debate, ²²  Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that some time ago ²³  God chose ²⁴  me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message ²⁵  of the gospel ²⁶  and believe. ²⁷ 

[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.”

[1:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “And praying, they said.” 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.

[15:25]  ⁷ tn Grk “having become of one mind, we have decided.” This has been translated “we have unanimously decided” to reduce the awkwardness in English.

[15:25]  ⁸ tn BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.b.β lists this verse under the meaning “it seems best to me, I decide, I resolve.”

[6:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And the.” 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.

[6:5]  ¹¹ tn The translation “so” has been used to indicate the logical sequence in English.

[6:5]  ¹² tn “With” is smoother English style for an addition like this. Because of differences between Greek and English style, καί (kai), which occurs between each name in the list, has not been translated except preceding the last element.

[6:5]  ¹³ sn Philip. Note how many of the names in this list are Greek. This suggests that Hellenists were chosen to solve the problem they had been so sensitive about fixing (cf. 6:1).

[6:5]  ¹⁴ tn Or “a proselyte.”

[6:5]  ¹⁵ map For location see JP1 F2; JP2 F2; JP3 F2; JP4 F2.

[13:17]  ¹³ tn Or “people of Israel.”

[13:17]  ¹⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[13:17]  ¹⁵ tn That is, in both numbers and in power. The implication of greatness in both numbers and in power is found in BDAG 1046 s.v. ὑψόω 2.

[13:17]  ¹⁶ tn Or “as resident aliens.”

[13:17]  ¹⁷ tn Or “land.”

[13:17]  ¹⁸ sn Here uplifted arm is a metaphor for God’s power by which he delivered the Israelites from Egypt. See Exod 6:1, 6; 32:11; Deut 3:24; 4:34; Ps 136:11-12.

[15:22]  ¹⁶ tn BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.b.β lists this verse under the meaning “it seems best to me, I decide, I resolve.”

[15:22]  ¹⁷ sn Silas. See 2 Cor 1:19; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1 (= Silvanus).

[15:22]  ¹⁸ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “discussion.” This term is repeated from v. 2.

[15:7]  ²⁰ tn Or “long ago” (an idiom, literally “from ancient days”). According to L&N 67.26, “this reference to Peter having been chosen by God sometime before to bring the gospel to the Gentiles can hardly be regarded as a reference to ancient times, though some persons understand this to mean that God’s decision was made at the beginning of time. The usage of ἀφ᾿ ἡμερῶν ἀρχαίων is probably designed to emphasize the established nature of God’s decision for Peter to take the gospel to the Gentiles beginning with the centurion Cornelius. The fact that this was relatively early in the development of the church may also serve to explain the use of the idiom.”

[15:7]  ²¹ sn God chose. The theme of God’s sovereign choice is an important point, because 1st century Jews believed Israel’s unique position and customs were a reflection of God’s choice.

[15:7]  ²² tn Or “word.”

[15:7]  ²³ tn Or “of the good news.”

[15:7]  ²⁴ tn Grk “God chose among you from my mouth the Gentiles to hear the message of the gospel and to believe.” The sense of this sentence in Greek is difficult to render in English. The Greek verb ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai, “choose”) normally takes a person or thing as a direct object; in this verse the verb has neither clearly stated. The translation understands the phrase “from my mouth,” referring to Peter, as a description of both who God chose and the task to be done. This coupled with the following statement about Gentiles hearing the message of the gospel leads to the more dynamic rendering in the translation.