Acts 2:19

2:19 And I will perform wonders in the sky ¹  above

and miraculous signs ²  on the earth below,

blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

Acts 2:26

2:26 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced;

my body ³  also will live in hope,

Acts 7:11

7:11 Then a famine occurred throughout ⁴  Egypt and Canaan, causing ⁵  great suffering, and our ⁶  ancestors ⁷  could not find food.

Acts 15:19

15:19 “Therefore I conclude ⁸  that we should not cause extra difficulty ⁹  for those among the Gentiles ¹⁰  who are turning to God,

Acts 23:28

23:28 Since I wanted to know ¹¹  what charge they were accusing him of, ¹²  I brought him down to their council. ¹³ 

Acts 25:12

25:12 Then, after conferring with his council, ¹⁴  Festus ¹⁵  replied, “You have appealed to Caesar; ¹⁶  to Caesar ¹⁷  you will go!” ¹⁸ 

Acts 26:1

Paul Offers His Defense

26:1 So Agrippa ¹⁹  said to Paul, “You have permission ²⁰  to speak for yourself.” Then Paul held out his hand ²¹  and began his defense: ²² 

Acts 26:21

26:21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts ²³  and were trying to kill me.

Acts 26:31-32

26:31 and as they were leaving they said to one another, ²⁴  “This man is not doing anything deserving ²⁵  death or imprisonment.” 26:32 Agrippa ²⁶  said to Festus, ²⁷  “This man could have been released ²⁸  if he had not appealed to Caesar.” ²⁹ 

[2:19]  ¹ tn Or “in the heaven.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context. Here, in contrast to “the earth below,” a reference to the sky is more likely.

[2:19]  ² tn Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned; this is made explicit in the translation.

[2:26]  ³ tn Grk “my flesh.”

[7:11]  ⁵ tn Grk “came upon all Egypt.”

[7:11]  ⁶ tn Grk “and,” but logically causal.

[7:11]  ⁷ sn Our. Stephen spoke of “our” ancestors (Grk “fathers”) in an inclusive sense throughout the speech until his rebuke in v. 51, where the nation does what “your” ancestors did, at which point an exclusive pronoun is used. This serves to emphasize the rebuke.

[7:11]  ⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[15:19]  ⁷ tn Or “I have decided,” “I think.” The verb κρίνω (krinw) has a far broader range of meaning than the often-used English verb “judge.” BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 3 places this use in Acts 15:19 in the category “judge, think, consider, look upon” followed by double accusative of object and predicate. However, many modern translations give the impression that a binding decision is being handed down by James: “it is my judgment” (NASB, NIV); “I have reached the decision” (NRSV). L&N 22.25, on the other hand, translate the phrase here “I think that we should not cause extra difficulty for those among the Gentiles.” This gives more the impression of an opinion than a binding decision. The resolution of this lies not so much in the lexical data as in how one conceives James’ role in the leadership of the Jerusalem church, plus the dynamics of the specific situation where the issue of Gentile inclusion in the church was being discussed. The major possibilities are: (1) James is handing down a binding decision to the rest of the church as the one who has ultimate authority to decide this matter; (2) James is offering his own personal opinion in the matter, which is not binding on the church; (3) James is voicing a consensus opinion of all the apostles and elders, although phrasing it as if it were his own; (4) James is making a suggestion to the rest of the leadership as to what course they should follow. In light of the difficulty in reconstructing the historical situation in detail, it is best to use a translation which maintains as many of the various options as possible. For this reason the translation “Therefore I conclude” has been used, leaving open the question whether in reaching this conclusion James is speaking only for himself or for the rest of the leadership.

[15:19]  ⁸ tn Or “trouble.” This term is a NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 775 s.v. παρενοχλέω).

[15:19]  ⁹ tn Or “among the nations” (in Greek the word for “nation” and “Gentile” is the same).

[23:28]  ⁹ tn Or “determine.”

[23:28]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “to know the charge on account of which they were accusing him.” This has been simplified to eliminate the prepositional phrase and relative pronoun δι᾿ ἣν (di’ }hn) similar to L&N 27.8 which has “‘I wanted to find out what they were accusing him of, so I took him down to their Council’ Ac 23:28.”

[23:28]  ¹¹ tn Grk “their Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[25:12]  ¹¹ tn That is, with his advisers.

[25:12]  ¹² sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:12]  ¹³ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[25:12]  ¹⁴ tn Or “to the emperor.”

[25:12]  ¹⁵ sn “To Caesar you will go!” In all probability Festus was pleased to send Paul on to Rome and get this political problem out of his court.

[26:1]  ¹³ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[26:1]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “It is permitted for you.”

[26:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “extended his hand” (a speaker’s gesture).

[26:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “and began to speak in his own defense.”

[26:21]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “in the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[26:31]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “they spoke to one another saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[26:31]  ¹⁸ tn BDAG 93 s.v. ἄξιος 1.b has “θανάτου ἢ δεσμῶν ἄ. nothing deserving death or imprisonment 23:29; 26:31.”

[26:32]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[26:32]  ²⁰ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[26:32]  ²¹ tn Or “set free.”

[26:32]  ²² tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).