Acts 10:34-38

10:34 Then Peter started speaking: ¹  “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism in dealing with people, ²  10:35 but in every nation ³  the person who fears him ⁴  and does what is right ⁵  is welcomed before him. 10:36 You know ⁶  the message ⁷  he sent to the people ⁸  of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace ⁹  through ¹⁰  Jesus Christ ¹¹  (he is Lord ¹²  of all) – 10:37 you know what happened throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ¹³  10:38 with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, ¹⁴  that ¹⁵  God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He ¹⁶  went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, ¹⁷  because God was with him. ¹⁸ 

[10:34]  ¹ tn Grk “Opening his mouth Peter said” (a Semitic idiom for beginning to speak in a somewhat formal manner). The participle ἀνοίξας (anoixa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[10:34]  ² tn Grk “God is not one who is a respecter of persons,” that is, “God is not one to show partiality” (cf. BDAG 887 s.v. προσωπολήμπτης). L&N 88.239 translates this verse “I realize that God does not show favoritism (in dealing with people).” The underlying Hebrew idiom includes the personal element (“respecter of persons”) so the phrase “in dealing with people” is included in the present translation. It fits very well with the following context and serves to emphasize the relational component of God’s lack of partiality. The latter is a major theme in the NT: Rom 2:11; Eph 2:11-22; Col 3:25; Jas 2:1; 1 Pet 1:17. This was the lesson of Peter’s vision.

[10:35]  ³ sn See Luke 24:47.

[10:35]  ⁴ tn Or “shows reverence for him.”

[10:35]  ⁵ tn Grk “works righteousness”; the translation “does what is right” for this phrase in this verse is given by L&N 25.85.

[10:36]  ⁶ tn The subject and verb (“you know”) do not actually occur until the following verse, but have been repeated here because of the requirements of English word order.

[10:36]  ⁷ tn Grk “the word.”

[10:36]  ⁸ tn Grk “to the sons.”

[10:36]  ⁹ sn Peace is a key OT concept: Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15; also for Luke: Luke 1:79; 2:14; Acts 9:31. See also the similar phrase in Eph 2:17.

[10:36]  ¹⁰ tn Or “by.”

[10:36]  ¹¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[10:36]  ¹² sn He is Lord of all. Though a parenthetical remark, this is the theological key to the speech. Jesus is Lord of all, so the gospel can go to all. The rest of the speech proclaims Jesus’ authority.

[10:37]  ¹³ tn Or “proclaimed.”

[10:38]  ¹⁴ sn The somewhat awkward naming of Jesus as from Nazareth here is actually emphatic. He is the key subject of these key events.

[10:38]  ¹⁵ tn Or “how.” The use of ὡς (Jws) as an equivalent to ὅτι (Joti) to introduce indirect or even direct discourse is well documented. BDAG 1105 s.v. ὡς 5 lists Acts 10:28 in this category.

[10:38]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “power, who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he,” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.

[10:38]  ¹⁷ tn The translation “healing all who were oppressed by the devil” is given in L&N 22.22.

[10:38]  ¹⁸ sn See Acts 7:9.