Acts 1:6

1:6 So when they had gathered together, they began to ask him, ¹  “Lord, is this the time when you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

Acts 5:34

5:34 But a Pharisee ²  whose name was Gamaliel, ³  a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up ⁴  in the council ⁵  and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time.

Acts 7:13

7:13 On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers again, and Joseph’s family ⁶  became known to Pharaoh.

Acts 7:20

7:20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful ⁷  to God. For ⁸  three months he was brought up in his father’s house,

Acts 7:51

7:51 “You stubborn ⁹  people, with uncircumcised ¹⁰  hearts and ears! ¹¹  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ¹²  did!

Acts 10:2

10:2 He ¹³  was a devout, God-fearing man, ¹⁴  as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people ¹⁵  and prayed to God regularly.

Acts 15:1

The Jerusalem Council

15:1 Now some men came down from Judea ¹⁶  and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised ¹⁷  according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 18:8

18:8 Crispus, the president of the synagogue, ¹⁸  believed in the Lord together with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard about it ¹⁹  believed and were baptized.

Acts 23:1

23:1 Paul looked directly ²⁰  at the council ²¹  and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with a clear conscience ²²  before God to this day.”

Acts 27:31

27:31 Paul said to the centurion ²³  and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you ²⁴  cannot be saved.”

[1:6]  ¹ tn Grk “they began to ask him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. The imperfect tense of the Greek verb ἠρώτων (hrwtwn) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[5:34]  ² sn A Pharisee was a member of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[5:34]  ³ sn Gamaliel was a famous Jewish scholar and teacher mentioned here in v. 34 and in Acts 22:3. He had a grandson of the same name and is referred to as “Gamaliel the Elder” to avoid confusion. He is quoted a number of times in the Mishnah, was given the highest possible title for Jewish teachers, Rabba (cf. John 20:16), and was highly regarded in later rabbinic tradition.

[5:34]  ⁴ tn Grk “standing up in the council, ordered.” The participle ἀναστάς (anasta") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[5:34]  ⁵ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[7:13]  ³ tn BDAG 194 s.v. γένος 2. gives “family, relatives” here; another alternative is “race” (see v. 19).

[7:20]  ⁴ tn Or “was well-formed before God,” or “was well-pleasing to God” (BDAG 145 s.v. ἀστεῖος suggests the meaning is more like “well-bred” as far as God was concerned; see Exod 2:2).

[7:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “who was brought up for three months.” The continuation of the sentence as a relative clause is awkward in English, so a new sentence was started in the translation by changing the relative pronoun to a regular pronoun (“he”).

[7:51]  ⁵ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

[7:51]  ⁶ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

[7:51]  ⁷ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

[7:51]  ⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[10:2]  ⁶ tn In the Greek text this represents a continuation of the previous sentence. Because of the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[10:2]  ⁷ sn The description of Cornelius as a devout, God-fearing man probably means that he belonged to 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, 43-44, and Sir 11:17; 27:11; 39:27.

[10:2]  ⁸ tn Or “gave many gifts to the poor.” This was known as “giving alms,” or acts of mercy (Sir 7:10; BDAG 315-16 s.v. ἐλεημοσύνη).

[15:1]  ⁷ sn That is, they came down from Judea to Antioch in Syria.

[15:1]  ⁸ tc Codex Bezae (D) and a few other witnesses have “and walk” here (i.e., instead of τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως [tw eqei tw Mwu>sew"] they read καὶ τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως περιπατῆτε [kai tw eqei tw Mwu>sew" peripathte]). This is a decidedly stronger focus on obedience to the Law. As well, D expands vv. 1-5 in various places with the overall effect of being “more sympathetic to the local tradition of the church at Jerusalem” while the Alexandrian witnesses are more sympathetic to Paul (TCGNT 377). Codex D is well known for having a significantly longer text in Acts, but modern scholarship is generally of the opinion that the text of D expands on the original wording of Acts, with a theological viewpoint that especially puts Peter in a more authoritarian light. The expansion in these five verses is in keeping with that motif even though Peter is not explicitly in view.

[18:8]  ⁸ tn That is, “the official in charge of the synagogue”; ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “leader/president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93).

[18:8]  ⁹ tn Or “who heard him,” or “who heard Paul.” The ambiguity here results from the tendency of Greek to omit direct objects, which must be supplied from the context. The problem is that no less than three different ones may be supplied here: (1) “him,” referring to Crispus, but this is not likely because there is no indication in the context that Crispus began to speak out about the Lord; this is certainly possible and even likely, but more than the text here affirms; (2) “Paul,” who had been speaking in the synagogue and presumably, now that he had moved to Titius Justus’ house, continued speaking to the Gentiles; or (3) “about it,” that is, the Corinthians who heard about Crispus’ conversion became believers. In the immediate context this last is most probable, since the two incidents are juxtaposed. Other, less obvious direct objects could also be supplied, such as “heard the word of God,” “heard the word of the Lord,” etc., but none of these are obvious in the immediate context.

[23:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “Paul, looking directly at the council, said.” The participle ἀτενίσας (atenisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[23:1]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 846 s.v. πολιτεύομαι 3 has “W. a double dat. συνειδήσει ἀγαθῇ πεπολίτευμαι τῷ θεῷ I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God Ac 23:1.”

[27:31]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[27:31]  ¹¹ sn The pronoun you is plural in Greek.