Acts 13:15

13:15 After the reading from the law and the prophets, ¹  the leaders of the synagogue ²  sent them a message, ³  saying, “Brothers, ⁴  if you have any message ⁵  of exhortation ⁶  for the people, speak it.” ⁷ 

Acts 21:20

21:20 When they heard this, they praised ⁸  God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews ⁹  there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers ¹⁰  of the law. ¹¹ 

Acts 21:24

21:24 take them and purify ¹²  yourself along with them and pay their expenses, ¹³  so that they may have their heads shaved. ¹⁴  Then ¹⁵  everyone will know there is nothing in what they have been told ¹⁶  about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with ¹⁷  the law. ¹⁸ 

Acts 23:3

23:3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! ¹⁹  Do ²⁰  you sit there judging me according to the law, ²¹  and in violation of the law ²²  you order me to be struck?”

Acts 24:14

24:14 But I confess this to you, that I worship ²³  the God of our ancestors ²⁴  according to the Way (which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law ²⁵  and that is written in the prophets.

[13:15]  ¹ sn After the reading from the law and the prophets. In the 1st century Jewish synagogue, it was customary after the reading of the Torah (law) and prophets for men to give exhortation from the scriptures.

[13:15]  ² tn Normally ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93). Since the term is plural here, however, and it would sound strange to the English reader to speak of “the presidents of the synagogue,” the alternative translation “leaders” is used. “Rulers” would also be acceptable, but does not convey quite the same idea.

[13:15]  ³ tn Grk “sent to them”; the word “message” is an understood direct object. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[13:15]  ⁴ tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[13:15]  ⁵ tn Or “word.”

[13:15]  ⁶ tn Or “encouragement.”

[13:15]  ⁷ tn Or “give it.”

[21:20]  ⁸ tn Or “glorified.”

[21:20]  ⁹ tn Grk “how many thousands there are among the Jews.”

[21:20]  ¹⁰ tn Or “are all zealous for the law.” BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.β has “of thing…τοῦ νόμου an ardent observer of the law Ac 21:20.”

[21:20]  ¹¹ sn That is, the law of Moses. These Jewish Christians had remained close to their Jewish practices after becoming believers (1 Cor 7:18-19; Acts 16:3).

[21:24]  ¹⁵ sn That is, undergo ritual cleansing. Paul’s cleansing would be necessary because of his travels in “unclean” Gentile territory. This act would represent a conciliatory gesture. Paul would have supported a “law-free” mission to the Gentiles as an option, but this gesture would represent an attempt to be sensitive to the Jews (1 Cor 9:15-22).

[21:24]  ¹⁶ tn L&N 57.146 has “δαπάνησον ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς ‘pay their expenses’ Ac 21:24.”

[21:24]  ¹⁷ tn The future middle indicative has causative force here. BDAG 686 s.v. ξυράω has “mid. have oneself shaved…τὴν κεφαλήν have one’s head shaved…Ac 21:24.”

[21:24]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

[21:24]  ¹⁹ tn The verb here describes a report or some type of information (BDAG 534 s.v. κατηχέω 1).

[21:24]  ²⁰ tn Grk “adhere to the keeping of the law.” L&N 41.12 has “στοιχέω: to live in conformity with some presumed standard or set of customs – ‘to live, to behave in accordance with.’”

[21:24]  ²¹ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[23:3]  ²² sn You whitewashed wall. This was an idiom for hypocrisy – just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (L&N 88.234; see also BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). Paul was claiming that the man’s response was two-faced (Ezek 13:10-16; Matt 23:27-28). See also Deut 28:22.

[23:3]  ²³ tn Grk “And do.” 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.

[23:3]  ²⁴ tn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[23:3]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 769 s.v. παρανομέω has “παρανομῶν κελεύεις in violation of the law you order Ac 23:3.”

[24:14]  ²⁹ tn Or “serve.”

[24:14]  ³⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[24:14]  ³¹ sn That is, the law of Moses. Paul was claiming that he legitimately worshiped the God of Israel. He was arguing that this amounted to a religious dispute rather than a political one, so that the Roman authorities need not concern themselves with it.