Acts 15:28

15:28 For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us ¹  not to place any greater burden on you than these necessary rules: ² 

Acts 20:23

20:23 except ³  that the Holy Spirit warns ⁴  me in town after town ⁵  that ⁶  imprisonment ⁷  and persecutions ⁸  are waiting for me.

Acts 27:22

27:22 And now I advise ⁹  you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship will be lost. ¹⁰ 

Acts 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ¹¹  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ¹²  persecution began ¹³  against the church in Jerusalem, ¹⁴  and all ¹⁵  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ¹⁶  of Judea and Samaria.

[15:28]  ¹ tn This is the same expression translated “decided” in Acts 15:22, 25. BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.b.β lists “decide” as a possible gloss for this verse, and this translation would be consistent with the translation of the same expression in Acts 15:22, 25. However, the unusually awkward “the Holy Spirit and we have decided” would result. Given this approach, it would be more natural in English to say “We and the Holy Spirit have decided,” but changing the order removes the emphasis the Greek text gives to the Holy Spirit. Thus, although the similarity to the phrases in 15:22, 25 is obscured, it is better to use the alternate translation “it seems best to me” (also given by BDAG): “it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us.” Again the scope of agreement is highlighted.

[15:28]  ² tn L&N 71.39 translates “indispensable (rules)” while BDAG 358 s.v. ἐπάναγκες has “the necessary things.”

[20:23]  ³ tn BDAG 826 s.v. πλήν 1.d has “πλὴν ὅτι except that…Ac 20:23.”

[20:23]  ⁴ tn The verb διαμαρτύρομαι (diamarturomai) can mean “warn” (BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 2 has “solemnly urge, exhort, warn…w. dat. of pers. addressed”), and this meaning better fits the context here, although BDAG categorizes Acts 20:23 under the meaning “testify of, bear witness to” (s.v. 1).

[20:23]  ⁵ tn The Greek text here reads κατὰ πόλιν (kata polin).

[20:23]  ⁶ tn Grk “saying that,” but the participle λέγον (legon) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[20:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “bonds.”

[20:23]  ⁸ tn Or “troubles,” “suffering.” See Acts 19:21; 21:4, 11.

[27:22]  ⁵ tn The same verb is used for Paul’s original recommendation in Ac 27:9.

[27:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “except the ship.” Here “but” is used to translate the improper preposition πλήν (plhn; see BDAG 826 s.v. πλήν 2) since an exception like this, where two different categories of objects are involved (people and a ship), is more naturally expressed in contemporary English with an adversative (“but”). The words “will be lost” are also supplied for clarity.

[8:1]  ⁷ tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

[8:1]  ⁸ tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

[8:1]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ¹¹ sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

[8:1]  ¹² tn Or “countryside.”