Acts 13:39

13:39 and by this one ¹  everyone who believes is justified ²  from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify ³  you. ⁴ 

Acts 24:14

24:14 But I confess this to you, that I worship ⁵  the God of our ancestors ⁶  according to the Way (which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law ⁷  and that is written in the prophets.

[13:39]  ¹ sn This one refers here to Jesus.

[13:39]  ² tn Or “is freed.” The translation of δικαιωθῆναι (dikaiwqhnai) and δικαιοῦται (dikaioutai) in Acts 13:38-39 is difficult. BDAG 249 s.v. δικαιόω 3 categorizes δικαιωθῆναι in 13:38 (Greek text) under the meaning “make free/pure” but categorizes δικαιοῦται in Acts 13:39 as “be found in the right, be free of charges” (BDAG 249 s.v. δικαιόω 2.b.β). In the interest of consistency both verbs are rendered as “justified” in this translation.

[13:39]  ³ tn Or “could not free.”

[13:39]  ⁴ tn Grk “from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation, with “by the law of Moses” becoming the subject of the final clause. The words “from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you” are part of v. 38 in the Greek text, but due to English style and word order must be placed in v. 39 in the translation.

[24:14]  ⁵ tn Or “serve.”

[24:14]  ⁶ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[24:14]  ⁷ 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.