Acts 1:20

1:20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his house become deserted, ¹  and let there be no one to live in it,’ ²  and ‘Let another take his position of responsibility.’ ³ 

Acts 7:38

7:38 This is the man who was in the congregation ⁴  in the wilderness ⁵  with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, ⁶  and he ⁷  received living oracles ⁸  to give to you. ⁹ 

Acts 7:42

7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over ¹⁰  to worship the host ¹¹  of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices ¹²  forty years in the wilderness, was it, ¹³  house of Israel?

Acts 7:44

7:44 Our ancestors ¹⁴  had the tabernacle ¹⁵  of testimony in the wilderness, ¹⁶  just as God ¹⁷  who spoke to Moses ordered him ¹⁸  to make it according to the design he had seen.

Acts 8:26

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

8:26 Then an angel of the Lord ¹⁹  said to Philip, ²⁰  “Get up and go south ²¹  on the road that goes down from Jerusalem ²²  to Gaza.” (This is a desert ²³  road.) ²⁴ 

[1:20]  ¹ tn Or “uninhabited” or “empty.”

[1:20]  ² sn A quotation from Ps 69:25.

[1:20]  ³ tn Or “Let another take his office.”

[7:38]  ⁴ tn This term, ἐκκλησία (ekklhsia), is a secular use of the term that came to mean “church” in the epistles. Here a reference to an assembly is all that is intended.

[7:38]  ⁵ tn Or “desert.”

[7:38]  ⁶ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:38]  ⁷ tn Grk “fathers, who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he” and a new clause introduced by “and” was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.

[7:38]  ⁸ tn Or “messages.” This is an allusion to the law given to Moses.

[7:38]  ⁹ tc ‡ The first person pronoun ἡμῖν (Jhmin, “to us”) is read by A C D E Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat sy, while the second person pronoun ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”) is read by Ì⁷⁴ א B 36 453 al co. The second person pronoun thus has significantly better external support. As well, ὑμῖν is a harder reading in this context, both because it is surrounded by first person pronouns and because Stephen perhaps “does not wish to disassociate himself from those who received God’s revelation in the past, but only from those who misinterpreted and disobeyed that revelation” (TCGNT 307). At the same time, Stephen does associate himself to some degree with his disobedient ancestors in v. 39, suggesting that the decisive break does not really come until v. 51 (where both his present audience and their ancestors are viewed as rebellious). Thus, both externally and internally ὑμῖν is the preferred reading.

[7:42]  ⁷ sn The expression and gave them over suggests similarities to the judgment on the nations described by Paul in Rom 1:18-32.

[7:42]  ⁸ tn Or “stars.”

[7:42]  ⁹ tn The two terms for sacrifices “semantically reinforce one another and are here combined essentially for emphasis” (L&N 53.20).

[7:42]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question, “was it?”

[7:44]  ¹⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:44]  ¹¹ tn Or “tent.”

[7:44]  ¹² tn Or “desert.”

[7:44]  ¹³ tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:44]  ¹⁴ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[8:26]  ¹³ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[8:26]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Lord spoke to Philip, saying.” The redundant participle λέγων (legwn) has not been translated.

[8:26]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Get up and go about noon.” The phrase κατὰ μεσημβρίαν (kata meshmbrian) can be translated either “about noon” (L&N 67.74) or “toward the south” (L&N 82.4). Since the angel’s command appears to call for immediate action (“Get up”) and would not therefore need a time indicator, a directional reference (“toward the south”) is more likely here.

[8:26]  ¹⁶ map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:26]  ¹⁷ tn Or “wilderness.”

[8:26]  ¹⁸ tn The words “This is a desert road” are probably best understood as a comment by the author of Acts, but it is possible they form part of the angel’s speech to Philip, in which case the verse would read: “Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza – the desert road.”