Acts 18:25

18:25 He had been instructed in ¹  the way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm ²  he spoke and taught accurately the facts ³  about Jesus, although he knew ⁴  only the baptism of John.

Acts 21:21

21:21 They have been informed about you – that you teach all the Jews now living ⁵  among the Gentiles to abandon ⁶  Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children ⁷  or live ⁸  according to our customs.

Acts 21:24

21:24 take them and purify ⁹  yourself along with them and pay their expenses, ¹⁰  so that they may have their heads shaved. ¹¹  Then ¹²  everyone will know there is nothing in what they have been told ¹³  about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with ¹⁴  the law. ¹⁵ 

[18:25]  ¹ tn Or “had been taught.”

[18:25]  ² tn Grk “and boiling in spirit” (an idiom for great eagerness or enthusiasm; BDAG 426 s.v. ζέω).

[18:25]  ³ tn Grk “the things.”

[18:25]  ⁴ tn Grk “knowing”; the participle ἐπιστάμενος (epistameno") has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[21:21]  ⁵ tn BDAG 511 s.v. κατά B.1.a has “τοὺς κ. τὰ ἔθνη ᾿Ιουδαίους the Judeans (dispersed) throughout the nations 21:21.” The Jews in view are not those in Palestine, but those who are scattered throughout the Gentile world.

[21:21]  ⁶ tn Or “to forsake,” “to rebel against.” BDAG 120 s.v. ἀποστασία has “ἀποστασίαν διδάσκεις ἀπὸ Μωϋσέως you teach (Judeans) to abandon Moses Ac 21:21.”

[21:21]  ⁷ sn That is, not to circumcise their male children. Biblical references to circumcision always refer to male circumcision.

[21:21]  ⁸ tn Grk “or walk.”

[21:24]  ⁹ sn That is, undergo ritual cleansing. Paul’s cleansing would be necessary because of his travels in “unclean” Gentile territory. This act would represent a conciliatory gesture. Paul would have supported a “law-free” mission to the Gentiles as an option, but this gesture would represent an attempt to be sensitive to the Jews (1 Cor 9:15-22).

[21:24]  ¹⁰ tn L&N 57.146 has “δαπάνησον ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς ‘pay their expenses’ Ac 21:24.”

[21:24]  ¹¹ tn The future middle indicative has causative force here. BDAG 686 s.v. ξυράω has “mid. have oneself shaved…τὴν κεφαλήν have one’s head shaved…Ac 21:24.”

[21:24]  ¹² tn Grk “and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.

[21:24]  ¹³ tn The verb here describes a report or some type of information (BDAG 534 s.v. κατηχέω 1).

[21:24]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “adhere to the keeping of the law.” L&N 41.12 has “στοιχέω: to live in conformity with some presumed standard or set of customs – ‘to live, to behave in accordance with.’”

[21:24]  ¹⁵ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.