Acts 17:3

17:3 explaining and demonstrating ¹  that the Christ ²  had to suffer and to rise from the dead, ³  saying, ⁴  “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” ⁵ 

Acts 18:5

18:5 Now when Silas and Timothy arrived ⁶  from Macedonia, ⁷  Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming ⁸  the word, testifying ⁹  to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. ¹⁰ 

Acts 28:23

28:23 They set ¹¹  a day to meet with him, ¹²  and they came to him where he was staying ¹³  in even greater numbers. ¹⁴  From morning until evening he explained things ¹⁵  to them, ¹⁶  testifying ¹⁷  about the kingdom of God ¹⁸  and trying to convince ¹⁹  them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets.

Luke 24:44-45

Jesus’ Final Commission

24:44 Then ²⁰  he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me ²¹  in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms ²²  must be fulfilled.” 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, ²³ 

[17:3]  ¹ tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 2.b has “demonstrate, point out” here.

[17:3]  ² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[17:3]  ³ sn The Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead. These two points (suffering and resurrection) would have been among the more controversial aspects of Paul’s messianic preaching. The term translated “had to” (δεῖ, dei) shows how divine design and scripture corresponded here.

[17:3]  ⁴ tn The Greek words used here (καὶ ὅτι, kai {oti, “and that”) mark the switch from indirect to direct discourse. Contemporary English requires the use of an introductory verb of speaking or saying to make this transition.

[17:3]  ⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[18:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “came down.”

[18:5]  ⁷ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[18:5]  ⁸ tn BDAG 971 s.v. συνέχω 6 states, “συνείχετο τῷ λόγῳ (Paul) was wholly absorbed in preaching Ac 18:5…in contrast to the activity cited in vs. 3.” The imperfect συνείχετο (suneiceto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“became wholly absorbed…”), stressing the change in Paul’s activity once Silas and Timothy arrived. At this point Paul apparently began to work less and preach more.

[18:5]  ⁹ tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 2 has “testify of, bear witness to solemnly (orig. under oath)…W. acc. and inf. foll. Ac 18:5.”

[18:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[28:23]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Having set.” The participle ταξάμενοι (taxamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[28:23]  ¹² tn Grk “Having set a day with him”; the words “to meet” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[28:23]  ¹³ tn Or “came to him in his rented quarters.”

[28:23]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 848 s.v. πολύς 1.b.β.ב states, “(even) more πλείονες in even greater numbers Ac 28:23.”

[28:23]  ¹⁵ tn The word “things” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[28:23]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “to whom he explained.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation.

[28:23]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 1 has “to make a solemn declaration about the truth of someth. testify of, bear witness to (orig. under oath)…God’s kingdom 28:23.”

[28:23]  ¹⁸ sn Testifying about the kingdom of God. The topic is important. Paul’s preaching was about the rule of God and his promise in Jesus. Paul’s text was the Jewish scriptures.

[28:23]  ¹⁹ tn Or “persuade.”

[24:44]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:44]  ²¹ sn Everything written about me. The divine plan, events, and scripture itself are seen here as being one.

[24:44]  ²² sn For a similar threefold division of the OT scriptures, see the prologue to Sirach, lines 8-10, and from Qumran, the epilogue to 4QMMT, line 10.

[24:45]  ²³ sn Luke does not mention specific texts here, but it is likely that many of the scriptures he mentioned elsewhere in Luke-Acts would have been among those he had in mind.