Acts 1:3

1:3 To the same apostles ¹  also, after his suffering, ²  he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a forty-day period ³  and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God.

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 22:22

The Roman Commander Questions Paul

22:22 The crowd ¹⁰  was listening to him until he said this. ¹¹  Then ¹²  they raised their voices and shouted, ¹³  “Away with this man ¹⁴  from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live!” ¹⁵ 

Acts 28:4

28:4 When the local people ¹⁶  saw the creature hanging from Paul’s ¹⁷  hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself ¹⁸  has not allowed him to live!” ¹⁹ 

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

[1:3]  ² sn After his suffering is a reference to Jesus’ crucifixion and the abuse which preceded it.

[1:3]  ³ 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.

[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.

[22:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “They were listening”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “until this word.”

[22:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “And.” To indicate the logical sequence, καί (kai) has been translated as “then” here.

[22:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and said.”

[22:22]  ¹¹ tn Grk “this one.”

[22:22]  ¹² tn BDAG 491 s.v. καθήκω has “to be appropriate, come/reach to, be proper/fitting…Usu. impers. καθήκει it comes (to someone)…foll. by acc. and inf….οὐ καθῆκεν αὐτὸν ζῆν he should not be allowed to live Ac 22:22.”

[28:4]  ¹⁰ tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”

[28:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:4]  ¹² tn That is, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. BDAG 250 s.v. δίκη 2 states, “Justice personified as a deity Ac 28:4”; L&N 12.27, “a goddess who personifies justice in seeking out and punishing the guilty – ‘the goddess Justice.’ ἡ δίκη ζῆν οὐκ εἴασεν ‘the goddess Justice would not let him live’ Ac 28:4.” Although a number of modern English translations have rendered δίκη (dikh) “justice,” preferring to use an abstraction, in the original setting it is almost certainly a reference to a pagan deity. In the translation, the noun “justice” was capitalized and the reflexive pronoun “herself” was supplied to make the personification clear. This was considered preferable to supplying a word like ‘goddess’ in connection with δίκη.

[28:4]  ¹³ sn The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person (Justice herself has not allowed him to live). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.