Acts 2:29

2:29 “Brothers, ¹  I can speak confidently ²  to you about our forefather ³  David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Acts 2:37

The Response to Peter’s Address

2:37 Now when they heard this, ⁴  they were acutely distressed ⁵  and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?”

Acts 7:2

7:2 So he replied, ⁶  “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our forefather ⁷  Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

Acts 13:15

13:15 After the reading from the law and the prophets, ⁸  the leaders of the synagogue ⁹  sent them a message, ¹⁰  saying, “Brothers, ¹¹  if you have any message ¹²  of exhortation ¹³  for the people, speak it.” ¹⁴ 

Acts 13:26

13:26 Brothers, ¹⁵  descendants ¹⁶  of Abraham’s family, ¹⁷  and those Gentiles among you who fear God, ¹⁸  the message ¹⁹  of this salvation has been sent to us.

Acts 13:38

13:38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through this one ²⁰  forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

Acts 15:7

15:7 After there had been much debate, ²¹  Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that some time ago ²²  God chose ²³  me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message ²⁴  of the gospel ²⁵  and believe. ²⁶ 

Acts 15:13

15:13 After they stopped speaking, ²⁷  James replied, ²⁸  “Brothers, listen to me.

Acts 22:1

Paul’s Defense

22:1 “Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense ²⁹  that I now ³⁰  make to you.”

Acts 23:1

23:1 Paul looked directly ³¹  at the council ³²  and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with a clear conscience ³³  before God to this day.”

Acts 23:6

23:6 Then when Paul noticed ³⁴  that part of them were Sadducees ³⁵  and the others Pharisees, ³⁶  he shouted out in the council, ³⁷  “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection ³⁸  of the dead!”

Acts 28:17

Paul Addresses the Jewish Community in Rome

28:17 After three days ³⁹  Paul ⁴⁰  called the local Jewish leaders ⁴¹  together. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, ⁴²  although I had done ⁴³  nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, ⁴⁴  from Jerusalem ⁴⁵  I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans. ⁴⁶ 

[2:29]  ¹ tn Since this represents a continuation of the address beginning in v.14 and continued in v. 22, “brothers” has been used here rather than a generic expression like “brothers and sisters.”

[2:29]  ² sn Peter’s certainty is based on well-known facts.

[2:29]  ³ tn Or “about our noted ancestor,” “about the patriarch.”

[2:37]  ⁴ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[2:37]  ⁵ tn Grk “they were pierced to the heart” (an idiom for acute emotional distress).

[7:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “said.”

[7:2]  ⁷ tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”

[13:15]  ⁸ sn After the reading from the law and the prophets. In the 1st century Jewish synagogue, it was customary after the reading of the Torah (law) and prophets for men to give exhortation from the scriptures.

[13:15]  ⁹ tn Normally ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93). Since the term is plural here, however, and it would sound strange to the English reader to speak of “the presidents of the synagogue,” the alternative translation “leaders” is used. “Rulers” would also be acceptable, but does not convey quite the same idea.

[13:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “sent to them”; the word “message” is an understood direct object. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[13:15]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[13:15]  ¹² tn Or “word.”

[13:15]  ¹³ tn Or “encouragement.”

[13:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “give it.”

[13:26]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[13:26]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “sons”

[13:26]  ¹⁷ tn Or “race.”

[13:26]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and those among you who fear God,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Note how Paul includes God-fearing Gentiles as recipients of this promise.

[13:26]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “word.”

[13:38]  ²⁰ tn That is, Jesus. This pronoun is in emphatic position in the Greek text. Following this phrase in the Greek text is the pronoun ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”), so that the emphasis for the audience is that “through Jesus to you” these promises have come.

[15:7]  ²¹ tn Or “discussion.” This term is repeated from v. 2.

[15:7]  ²² tn Or “long ago” (an idiom, literally “from ancient days”). According to L&N 67.26, “this reference to Peter having been chosen by God sometime before to bring the gospel to the Gentiles can hardly be regarded as a reference to ancient times, though some persons understand this to mean that God’s decision was made at the beginning of time. The usage of ἀφ᾿ ἡμερῶν ἀρχαίων is probably designed to emphasize the established nature of God’s decision for Peter to take the gospel to the Gentiles beginning with the centurion Cornelius. The fact that this was relatively early in the development of the church may also serve to explain the use of the idiom.”

[15:7]  ²³ sn God chose. The theme of God’s sovereign choice is an important point, because 1st century Jews believed Israel’s unique position and customs were a reflection of God’s choice.

[15:7]  ²⁴ tn Or “word.”

[15:7]  ²⁵ tn Or “of the good news.”

[15:7]  ²⁶ tn Grk “God chose among you from my mouth the Gentiles to hear the message of the gospel and to believe.” The sense of this sentence in Greek is difficult to render in English. The Greek verb ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai, “choose”) normally takes a person or thing as a direct object; in this verse the verb has neither clearly stated. The translation understands the phrase “from my mouth,” referring to Peter, as a description of both who God chose and the task to be done. This coupled with the following statement about Gentiles hearing the message of the gospel leads to the more dynamic rendering in the translation.

[15:13]  ²⁷ tn BDAG 922 s.v. σιγάω 1.b lists this passage under the meaning “stop speaking, become silent.”

[15:13]  ²⁸ tn Grk “answered, saying”; the redundant participle λέγων (legwn) has not been translated.

[22:1]  ²⁹ sn Listen to my defense. This is the first of several speeches Paul would make in his own defense: Acts 24:10ff.; 25:8, 16; and 26:1ff. For the use of such a speech (“apologia”) in Greek, see Josephus, Ag. Ap. 2.15 [2.147]; Wis 6:10.

[22:1]  ³⁰ tn The adverb νυνί (nuni, “now”) is connected with the phrase τῆς πρὸς ὑμᾶς νυνὶ ἀπολογίας (th" pro" Juma" nuni apologia") rather than the verb ἀκούσατε (akousate), and the entire construction (prepositional phrase plus adverb) is in first attributive position and thus translated into English by a relative clause.

[23:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “Paul, looking directly at the council, said.” The participle ἀτενίσας (atenisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:1]  ³² tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[23:1]  ³³ tn BDAG 846 s.v. πολιτεύομαι 3 has “W. a double dat. συνειδήσει ἀγαθῇ πεπολίτευμαι τῷ θεῷ I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God Ac 23:1.”

[23:6]  ³⁴ tn BDAG 200 s.v. γινώσκω 4 has “to be aware of someth., perceive, notice, realize”; this is further clarified by section 4.c: “w. ὅτι foll….Ac 23:6.”

[23:6]  ³⁵ sn See the note on Sadducees in 4:1.

[23:6]  ³⁶ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

[23:6]  ³⁷ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[23:6]  ³⁸ tn That is, concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected. Grk “concerning the hope and resurrection.” BDAG 320 s.v. ἐλπίς 1.b.α states, “Of Israel’s messianic hope Ac 23:6 (ἐ. καὶ ἀνάστασις for ἐ. τῆς ἀν. [obj. gen] as 2 Macc 3:29 ἐ. καὶ σωτηρία).” With an objective genitive construction, the resurrection of the dead would be the “object” of the hope.

[28:17]  ³⁹ tn Grk “It happened that after three days.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[28:17]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:17]  ⁴¹ tn L&N 33.309 has “‘after three days, he called the local Jewish leaders together’ Ac 28:17.”

[28:17]  ⁴² tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[28:17]  ⁴³ tn The participle ποιήσας (poihsas) has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[28:17]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[28:17]  ⁴⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[28:17]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “into the hands of the Romans,” but this is redundant when παρεδόθην (paredoqhn) has been translated “handed over.”