Acts 10:2

Context
10:2 He¹ was a devout, God-fearing man,² as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people³ and prayed to God regularly.

Acts 10:22

Context
10:22 They said, “Cornelius the centurion,⁴ a righteous⁵ and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation,⁶ was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message⁷ from you.”

Acts 13:42

Context

13:42 As Paul and Barnabas⁸ were going out,⁹ the people¹⁰ were urging¹¹ them to speak about these things¹² on the next Sabbath.

Acts 16:14

Context
16:14 A¹³ woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth¹⁴ from the city of Thyatira,¹⁵ a God-fearing woman, listened to us.¹⁶ The Lord opened her heart to respond¹⁷ to what Paul was saying.

Acts 17:4

Context
17:4 Some of them were persuaded¹⁸ and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group¹⁹ of God-fearing Greeks²⁰ and quite a few²¹ prominent women.

[10:2] ¹tn 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] ²sn 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] ³tn 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).

[10:22] ⁴sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[10:22] ⁵tn Or “just.”

[10:22] ⁶tn The phrase τοῦ ἔθνους τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (tou eqnou" twn Ioudaiwn) is virtually a technical term for the Jewish nation (1 Macc 10:25; 11:30, 33; Josephus, Ant. 14.10.22 [14.248]). “All the Jewish people,” while another possible translation of the Greek phrase, does not convey the technical sense of a reference to the nation in English.

[10:22] ⁷tn Grk “hear words.”

[13:42] ⁸tn Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:42] ⁹tn Or “were leaving.” The participle ἐξιόντων (exiontwn) is taken temporally.

[13:42] ¹⁰tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:42] ¹¹tn Or “begging,” “inviting.”

[13:42] ¹²tn Or “matters.”

[16:14] ¹³tn Grk “And a.” 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.

[16:14] ¹⁴tn On the term translated “a dealer in purple cloth” see BDAG 855 s.v. πορφυρόπωλις.

[16:14] ¹⁵sn Thyatira was a city in the province of Lydia in Asia Minor.

[16:14] ¹⁶tn The words “to us” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[16:14] ¹⁷tn Although BDAG 880 s.v. προσέχω 2.b gives the meaning “pay attention to” here, this could be misunderstood by the modern English reader to mean merely listening intently. The following context, however, indicates that Lydia responded positively to Paul’s message, so the verb here was translated “to respond.”

[17:4] ¹⁸tn Or “convinced.”

[17:4] ¹⁹tn Or “a large crowd.”

[17:4] ²⁰tn Or “of devout Greeks,” but this is practically a technical term for 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, 743-44. Luke frequently mentions such people (Acts 13:43, 50; 16:14; 17:17; 18:7).

[17:4] ²¹tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).