Acts 15:7

15:7 After there had been much debate, ¹  Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that some time ago ²  God chose ³  me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message ⁴  of the gospel ⁵  and believe. ⁶ 

Acts 22:5

22:5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders ⁷  can testify about me. From them ⁸  I also received ⁹  letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way ¹⁰  to make arrests there and bring ¹¹  the prisoners ¹²  to Jerusalem ¹³  to be punished.

Acts 23:6

23:6 Then when Paul noticed ¹⁴  that part of them were Sadducees ¹⁵  and the others Pharisees, ¹⁶  he shouted out in the council, ¹⁷  “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection ¹⁸  of the dead!”

Acts 28:17

Paul Addresses the Jewish Community in Rome

28:17 After three days ¹⁹  Paul ²⁰  called the local Jewish leaders ²¹  together. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, ²²  although I had done ²³  nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, ²⁴  from Jerusalem ²⁵  I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans. ²⁶ 

[15:7]  ¹ tn Or “discussion.” This term is repeated from v. 2.

[15:7]  ² tn Or “long ago” (an idiom, literally “from ancient days”). According to L&N 67.26, “this reference to Peter having been chosen by God sometime before to bring the gospel to the Gentiles can hardly be regarded as a reference to ancient times, though some persons understand this to mean that God’s decision was made at the beginning of time. The usage of ἀφ᾿ ἡμερῶν ἀρχαίων is probably designed to emphasize the established nature of God’s decision for Peter to take the gospel to the Gentiles beginning with the centurion Cornelius. The fact that this was relatively early in the development of the church may also serve to explain the use of the idiom.”

[15:7]  ³ sn God chose. The theme of God’s sovereign choice is an important point, because 1st century Jews believed Israel’s unique position and customs were a reflection of God’s choice.

[15:7]  ⁴ tn Or “word.”

[15:7]  ⁵ tn Or “of the good news.”

[15:7]  ⁶ tn Grk “God chose among you from my mouth the Gentiles to hear the message of the gospel and to believe.” The sense of this sentence in Greek is difficult to render in English. The Greek verb ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai, “choose”) normally takes a person or thing as a direct object; in this verse the verb has neither clearly stated. The translation understands the phrase “from my mouth,” referring to Peter, as a description of both who God chose and the task to be done. This coupled with the following statement about Gentiles hearing the message of the gospel leads to the more dynamic rendering in the translation.

[22:5]  ⁷ tn That is, the whole Sanhedrin. BDAG 861 s.v. πρεσβυτέριον has “an administrative group concerned with the interests of a specific community, council of elders – a. of the highest Judean council in Jerusalem, in our lit. usu. called συνέδριον…ὁ ἀρχιερεύς καὶ πᾶν τὸ πρ. Ac 22:5.”

[22:5]  ⁸ tn Grk “from whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[22:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “receiving.” The participle δεξάμενος (dexameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[22:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “letters to the brothers, [and] I was going to Damascus.” Such a translation, however, might be confusing since the term “brother” is frequently used of a fellow Christian. In this context, Paul is speaking about fellow Jews.

[22:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “even there and bring…” or “there and even bring…” The ascensive καί (kai) shows that Paul was fervent in his zeal against Christians, but it is difficult to translate for it really belongs with the entire idea of arresting and bringing back the prisoners.

[22:5]  ¹² tn BDAG 221 s.v. δέω 1.b has “δεδεμένον ἄγειν τινά bring someone as prisoner…Ac 9:2, 21; 22:5.”

[22:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “I was going…to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners that they might be punished.”

[23:6]  ¹³ tn BDAG 200 s.v. γινώσκω 4 has “to be aware of someth., perceive, notice, realize”; this is further clarified by section 4.c: “w. ὅτι foll….Ac 23:6.”

[23:6]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on Sadducees in 4:1.

[23:6]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

[23:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[23:6]  ¹⁷ tn That is, concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected. Grk “concerning the hope and resurrection.” BDAG 320 s.v. ἐλπίς 1.b.α states, “Of Israel’s messianic hope Ac 23:6 (ἐ. καὶ ἀνάστασις for ἐ. τῆς ἀν. [obj. gen] as 2 Macc 3:29 ἐ. καὶ σωτηρία).” With an objective genitive construction, the resurrection of the dead would be the “object” of the hope.

[28:17]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “It happened that after three days.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[28:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:17]  ²¹ tn L&N 33.309 has “‘after three days, he called the local Jewish leaders together’ Ac 28:17.”

[28:17]  ²² tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[28:17]  ²³ tn The participle ποιήσας (poihsas) has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[28:17]  ²⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[28:17]  ²⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[28:17]  ²⁶ tn Grk “into the hands of the Romans,” but this is redundant when παρεδόθην (paredoqhn) has been translated “handed over.”