Acts 10:3

10:3 About three o’clock one afternoon ¹  he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God ²  who came in ³  and said to him, “Cornelius.”

Acts 10:7

10:7 When the angel who had spoken to him departed, Cornelius ⁴  called two of his personal servants ⁵  and a devout soldier from among those who served him, ⁶ 

Acts 10:10

10:10 He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing the meal, a trance came over him. ⁷ 

[10:3]  ¹ tn Grk “at about the ninth hour of the day.” This would be the time for afternoon prayer.

[10:3]  ² tn Or “the angel of God.” Linguistically, “angel of God” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of God” or “the angel of God” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see ExSyn 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” DJG, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Interpretation, 324-35.

[10:3]  ³ tn The participles εἰσελθόντα (eiselqonta) and εἰπόντα (eiponta) are accusative, and thus best taken as adjectival participles modifying ἄγγελον (angelon): “an angel who came in and said.”

[10:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Cornelius) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:7]  ⁵ tn Or “domestic servants.” The Greek word here is οἰκέτης (oiketh"), which technically refers to a member of the household, but usually means a household servant (slave) or personal servant rather than a field laborer.

[10:7]  ⁶ tn The meaning of the genitive participle προσκαρτερούντων (proskarterountwn) could either be “a soldier from the ranks of those who served him” (referring to his entire command) or “a soldier from among his personal staff” (referring to a group of soldiers who were his personal attendants). The translation “from among those who served him” is general enough to cover either possibility.

[10:10]  ⁷ tn The traditional translation, “he fell into a trance,” is somewhat idiomatic; it is based on the textual variant ἐπέπεσεν (epepesen, “he fell”) found in the Byzantine text but almost certainly not original.