Acts 10:4

10:4 Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius ¹  replied, ²  “What is it, Lord?” The angel ³  said to him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity ⁴  have gone up as a memorial ⁵  before God.

Acts 16:14

16:14 A ⁶  woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth ⁷  from the city of Thyatira, ⁸  a God-fearing woman, listened to us. ⁹  The Lord opened her heart to respond ¹⁰  to what Paul was saying.

[10:4]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Cornelius) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ² tn Grk “said,” but in response to the angel’s address, “replied” is better English style.

[10:4]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ⁴ tn Or “your gifts to the needy.”

[10:4]  ⁵ sn The language used in the expression gone up as a memorial before God parallels what one would say of acceptable sacrifices (Ps 141:2; Sir 35:6; 50:16).

[16:14]  ⁶ tn 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]  ⁷ tn On the term translated “a dealer in purple cloth” see BDAG 855 s.v. πορφυρόπωλις.

[16:14]  ⁸ sn Thyatira was a city in the province of Lydia in Asia Minor.

[16:14]  ⁹ tn 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]  ¹⁰ tn 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.”