Acts 17:25

17:25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, ¹  because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone. ² 

Acts 7:48

7:48 Yet the Most High ³  does not live in houses made by human hands, ⁴  as the prophet says,

Acts 14:11

14:11 So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted ⁵  in the Lycaonian language, ⁶  “The gods have come down to us in human form!” ⁷ 

Acts 5:29

5:29 But Peter and the apostles replied, ⁸  “We must obey ⁹  God rather than people. ¹⁰ 

Acts 5:38

5:38 So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, ¹¹  it will come to nothing, ¹² 

Acts 14:15

14:15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures ¹³  just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn ¹⁴  from these worthless ¹⁵  things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, ¹⁶  the sea, and everything that is in them.

Acts 15:17

15:17 so that the rest of humanity ¹⁷  may seek the Lord,

namely, ¹⁸  all the Gentiles ¹⁹  I have called to be my own,’ ²⁰  says the Lord, ²¹  who makes these things

Acts 17:24

17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it, ²²  who is ²³  Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, ²⁴ 

Acts 17:29

17:29 So since we are God’s offspring, we should not think the deity ²⁵  is like gold or silver or stone, an image ²⁶  made by human ²⁷  skill ²⁸  and imagination. ²⁹ 

Acts 10:26

10:26 But Peter helped him up, ³⁰  saying, “Stand up. I too am a mere mortal.” ³¹ 

Acts 15:8

15:8 And God, who knows the heart, ³²  has testified ³³  to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, ³⁴ 

Acts 17:30

17:30 Therefore, although God has overlooked ³⁵  such times of ignorance, ³⁶  he now commands all people ³⁷  everywhere to repent, ³⁸ 

Acts 17:26

17:26 From one man ³⁹  he made every nation of the human race ⁴⁰  to inhabit the entire earth, ⁴¹  determining their set times ⁴²  and the fixed limits of the places where they would live, ⁴³ 

Acts 19:26

19:26 And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded ⁴⁴  and turned away ⁴⁵  a large crowd, ⁴⁶  not only in Ephesus ⁴⁷  but in practically all of the province of Asia, ⁴⁸  by saying ⁴⁹  that gods made by hands are not gods at all. ⁵⁰ 

Acts 10:28

10:28 He said to them, “You know that ⁵¹  it is unlawful ⁵²  for a Jew ⁵³  to associate with or visit a Gentile, ⁵⁴  yet God has shown me that I should call no person ⁵⁵  defiled or ritually unclean. ⁵⁶ 

[17:25]  ¹ tn L&N 57.45 has “nor does he need anything more that people can supply by working for him.”

[17:25]  ² tn Grk “he himself gives to all [people] life and breath and all things.”

[7:48]  ³ sn The title the Most High points to God’s majesty (Heb 7:1; Luke 1:32, 35; Acts 16:7).

[7:48]  ⁴ sn The phrase made by human hands is negative in the NT: Mark 14:58; Acts 17:24; Eph 2:11; Heb 9:11, 24. It suggests “man-made” or “impermanent.” The rebuke is like parts of the Hebrew scripture where the rebuke is not of the temple, but for making too much of it (1 Kgs 8:27; Isa 57:15; 1 Chr 6:8; Jer 7:1-34).

[14:11]  ⁵ tn Grk “they lifted up their voice” (an idiom).

[14:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “in Lycaonian, saying.” The word “language” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[14:11]  ⁷ tn So BDAG 707 s.v. ὁμοιόω 1. However, L&N 64.4 takes the participle ὁμοιωθέντες (Jomoiwqente") as an adjectival participle modifying θεοί (qeoi): “the gods resembling men have come down to us.”

[5:29]  ⁷ tn Grk “apostles answered and said.”

[5:29]  ⁸ sn Obey. See 4:19. This response has Jewish roots (Dan 3:16-18; 2 Macc 7:2; Josephus, Ant. 17.6.3 [17.159].

[5:29]  ⁹ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[5:38]  ⁹ tn Here ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[5:38]  ¹⁰ tn Or “it will be put to an end.”

[14:15]  ¹¹ tn Grk “with the same kinds of feelings,” L&N 25.32. BDAG 706 s.v. ὁμοιοπαθής translates the phrase “with the same nature τινί as someone.” In the immediate context, the contrast is between human and divine nature, and the point is that Paul and Barnabas are mere mortals, not gods.

[14:15]  ¹² tn Grk “in order that you should turn,” with ἐπιστρέφειν (epistrefein) as an infinitive of purpose, but this is somewhat awkward contemporary English. To translate the infinitive construction “proclaim the good news, that you should turn,” which is much smoother English, could give the impression that the infinitive clause is actually the content of the good news, which it is not. The somewhat less formal “to get you to turn” would work, but might convey to some readers manipulativeness on the part of the apostles. Thus “proclaim the good news, so that you should turn,” is used, to convey that the purpose of the proclamation of good news is the response by the hearers. The emphasis here is like 1 Thess 1:9-10.

[14:15]  ¹³ tn Or “useless,” “futile.” The reference is to idols and idolatry, worshiping the creation over the Creator (Rom 1:18-32). See also 1 Kgs 16:2, 13, 26; 2 Kgs 17:15; Jer 2:5; 8:19; 3 Macc 6:11.

[14:15]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and the earth, and the sea,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before “the earth” and “the sea” since contemporary English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[15:17]  ¹³ tn Or “so that all other people.” The use of this term follows Amos 9:11 LXX.

[15:17]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) introduces an explanatory clause that explains the preceding phrase “the rest of humanity.” The clause introduced by καί (kai) could also be punctuated in English as a parenthesis.

[15:17]  ¹⁵ tn Or “all the nations” (in Greek the word for “nation” and “Gentile” is the same).

[15:17]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “all the Gentiles on whom my name has been called.” Based on well-attested OT usage, the passive of ἐπικαλέω (epikalew) here indicates God’s ownership (“all the Gentiles who belong to me”) or calling (“all the Gentiles whom I have called to be my own”). See L&N 11.28.

[15:17]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Amos 9:11-12 LXX. James demonstrated a high degree of cultural sensitivity when he cited a version of the text (the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament) that Gentiles would use.

[17:24]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “all the things that are in it.” The speech starts with God as Creator, like 14:15.

[17:24]  ¹⁶ tn Or “because he is.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) could be either adjectival, modifying οὗτος (Joutos, “who is Lord…”) or adverbial of cause (“because he is Lord…”). Since the participle διδούς (didou") in v. 25 appears to be clearly causal in force, it is preferable to understand ὑπάρχων as adjectival in this context.

[17:24]  ¹⁷ sn On the statement does not live in temples made by human hands compare Acts 7:48. This has implications for idols as well. God cannot be represented by them or, as the following clause also suggests, served by human hands.

[17:29]  ¹⁷ tn Or “the divine being.” BDAG 446 s.v. θεῖος 1.b has “divine being, divinity” here.

[17:29]  ¹⁸ tn Or “a likeness.” Again idolatry is directly attacked as an affront to God and a devaluation of him.

[17:29]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “by the skill and imagination of man,” but ἀνθρώπου (anqrwpou) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[17:29]  ²⁰ tn Or “craftsmanship” (cf. BDAG 1001 s.v. τέχνη).

[17:29]  ²¹ tn Or “thought.” BDAG 336 s.v. ἐνθύμησις has “thought, reflection, idea” as the category of meaning here, but in terms of creativity (as in the context) the imaginative faculty is in view.

[10:26]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 271 s.v. ἐγείρω 3 has “raise, help to rise….Stretched out Ac 10:26.”

[10:26]  ²⁰ tn Although it is certainly true that Peter was a “man,” here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") has been translated as “mere mortal” because the emphasis in context is not on Peter’s maleness, but his humanity. Contrary to what Cornelius thought, Peter was not a god or an angelic being, but a mere mortal.

[15:8]  ²¹ sn The expression who knows the heart means “who knows what people think.”

[15:8]  ²² tn Or “has borne witness.”

[15:8]  ²³ sn By giving them…just as he did to us. The allusion is to the events of Acts 10-11, esp. 10:44-48 and Peter’s remarks in 11:15-18.

[17:30]  ²³ tn Or “has deliberately paid no attention to.”

[17:30]  ²⁴ tn Or “times when people did not know.”

[17:30]  ²⁵ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[17:30]  ²⁶ sn He now commands all people everywhere to repent. God was now asking all mankind to turn to him. No nation or race was excluded.

[17:26]  ²⁵ sn The one man refers to Adam (the word “man” is understood).

[17:26]  ²⁶ tn Or “mankind.” BDAG 276 s.v. ἔθνος 1 has “every nation of humankind Ac 17:26.”

[17:26]  ²⁷ tn Grk “to live over all the face of the earth.”

[17:26]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 884-85 s.v. προστάσσω has “(οἱ) προστεταγμένοι καιροί (the) fixed times Ac 17:26” here, but since the following phrase is also translated “fixed limits,” this would seem redundant in English, so the word “set” has been used instead.

[17:26]  ²⁹ tn Grk “the boundaries of their habitation.” L&N 80.5 has “fixed limits of the places where they would live” for this phrase.

[19:26]  ²⁷ tn Grk “persuading.” The participle πείσας (peisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:26]  ²⁸ tn Or “misled.”

[19:26]  ²⁹ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.a has “of pers. ὄχλος a large crowd…Ac 11:24, 26; 19:26.”

[19:26]  ³⁰ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[19:26]  ³¹ tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 22.

[19:26]  ³² tn The participle λέγων (legwn) has been regarded as indicating instrumentality.

[19:26]  ³³ tn The words “at all” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[10:28]  ²⁹ tn Here ὡς (Jws) is used like ὅτι (Joti) to introduce indirect discourse (cf. BDAG 1105 s.v. ὡς 5).

[10:28]  ³⁰ tn This term is used of wanton or callously lawless acts (BDAG 24 s.v. ἀθέμιτος).

[10:28]  ³¹ tn Grk “a Jewish man” (ἀνδρὶ ᾿Ιουδαίῳ, andri Ioudaiw).

[10:28]  ³² tn Grk “a foreigner,” but in this context, “a non-Jew,” that is, a Gentile. This term speaks of intimate association (BDAG 556 s.v. κολλάω 2.b.α). On this Jewish view, see John 18:28, where a visit to a Gentile residence makes a Jewish person unclean.

[10:28]  ³³ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo").

[10:28]  ³⁴ tn Possibly there is a subtle distinction in meaning between κοινός (koinos) and ἀκάθαρτος (akaqartos) here, but according to L&N 53.39 it is difficult to determine precise differences in meaning based on existing contexts.