Acts 15:16

Context

15:16 ‘After this¹ I² will return,

and I will rebuild the fallen tent³ of David;

I will rebuild its ruins and restore⁴ it,

Acts 7:43-44

Context
7:43 But you took along the tabernacle⁵ of Moloch⁶ and the star of the⁷ god Rephan,⁸ the images you made to worship, but I will deport⁹ you beyond Babylon.’¹⁰ 7:44 Our ancestors¹¹ had the tabernacle¹² of testimony in the wilderness,¹³ just as God¹⁴ who spoke to Moses ordered him¹⁵ to make it according to the design he had seen.

[15:16] ¹tn Grk “After these things.”

[15:16] ²sn The first person pronoun I refers to God and his activity. It is God who is doing this.

[15:16] ³tn Or more generally, “dwelling”; perhaps, “royal tent.” According to BDAG 928 s.v. σκηνή the word can mean “tent” or “hut,” or more generally “lodging” or “dwelling.” In this verse (a quotation from Amos 9:11) BDAG refers this to David’s ruined kingdom; it is possibly an allusion to a king’s tent (a royal tent). God is at work to reestablish David’s line (Acts 2:30-36; 13:32-39).

[15:16] ⁴tn BDAG 86 s.v. ἀνορθόω places this verb under the meaning “to build someth. up again after it has fallen, rebuild, restore,” but since ἀνοικοδομέω (anoikodomew, “rebuild”) has occurred twice in this verse already, “restore” is used here.

[7:43] ⁵tn Or “tent.”

[7:43] ⁶sn Moloch was a Canaanite deity who was believed to be the god of the sky and the sun.

[7:43] ⁷tc ‡ Most mss, including several important ones (Ì⁷⁴ א A C E Ψ 33 1739 Ï h p vg sy^h mae bo Cyr), have ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here, in conformity with the LXX of Amos 5:26. But other significant and diverse witnesses lack the pronoun: The lack of ὑμῶν in B D 36 453 gig sy^p sa Ir^lat Or is difficult to explain if it is not the original wording here. NA²⁷ has the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[7:43] ⁸sn Rephan (῾Ραιφάν, RJaifan) was a pagan deity. The term was a name for Saturn. It was variously spelled in the mss (BDAG 903 s.v. has Rompha as an alternate spelling). The references cover a range of deities and a history of unfaithfulness.

[7:43] ⁹tn Or “I will make you move.”

[7:43] ¹⁰sn A quotation from Amos 5:25-27. This constituted a prediction of the exile.

[7:44] ⁹tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:44] ¹⁰tn Or “tent.”

[7:44] ¹¹tn Or “desert.”

[7:44] ¹²tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:44] ¹³tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.