Acts 18:6

18:6 When they opposed him ¹  and reviled him, ²  he protested by shaking out his clothes ³  and said to them, “Your blood ⁴  be on your own heads! I am guiltless! ⁵  From now on I will go to the Gentiles!”

Acts 28:28

28:28 “Therefore be advised ⁶  that this salvation from God ⁷  has been sent to the Gentiles; ⁸  they ⁹  will listen!”

Isaiah 55:5

55:5 Look, you will summon nations ¹⁰  you did not previously know;

nations ¹¹  that did not previously know you will run to you,

because of the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, ¹² 

for he bestows honor on you.

[18:6]  ¹ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[18:6]  ² tn The participle βλασφημούντων (blasfhmountwn) has been taken temporally. The direct object (“him”) is implied rather than expressed and could be impersonal (“it,” referring to what Paul was saying rather than Paul himself), but the verb occurs more often in contexts involving defamation or slander against personal beings (not always God). For a very similar context to this one, compare Acts 13:45. The translation “blaspheme” is not used because in contemporary English its meaning is more narrowly defined and normally refers to blasphemy against God (not what Paul’s opponents were doing here). What they were doing was more like slander or defamation of character.

[18:6]  ³ tn Grk “shaking out his clothes, he said to them.” L&N 16:8 translates Acts 18:6 “when they opposed him and said evil things about him, he protested by shaking the dust from his clothes.” The addition of the verb “protested by” in the translation is necessary to clarify for the modern reader that this is a symbolic action. It is similar but not identical to the phrase in Acts 13:51, where the dust from the feet is shaken off. The participle ἐκτιναξάμενος (ektinaxameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:6]  ⁴ sn Your blood be on your own heads! By invoking this epithet Paul declared himself not responsible for their actions in rejecting Jesus whom Paul preached (cf. Ezek 33:4; 3:6-21; Matt 23:35; 27:25).

[18:6]  ⁵ tn Or “innocent.” BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a has “guiltless Ac 18:6.”

[28:28]  ⁶ tn Grk “Therefore let it be known to you.”

[28:28]  ⁷ tn Or “of God.”

[28:28]  ⁸ sn The term Gentiles is in emphatic position in the Greek text of this clause. Once again there is the pattern: Jewish rejection of the gospel leads to an emphasis on Gentile inclusion (Acts 13:44-47).

[28:28]  ⁹ tn Grk “they also.”

[55:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a nation,” but the singular is collective here, as the plural verbs in the next line indicate (note that both “know” and “run” are third plural forms).

[55:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a nation,” but the singular is collective here, as the plural verbs that follow indicate.

[55:5]  ¹² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.