Acts 2:38-39

2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized ¹  in the name of Jesus Christ ²  for ³  the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ⁴  2:39 For the promise ⁵  is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”

Acts 3:25-26

3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, ⁶  saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants ⁷  all the nations ⁸  of the earth will be blessed.’ ⁹  3:26 God raised up ¹⁰  his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning ¹¹  each one of you from your iniquities.” ¹² 

Acts 11:19

Activity in the Church at Antioch

11:19 Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen ¹³  went as far as ¹⁴  Phoenicia, ¹⁵  Cyprus, ¹⁶  and Antioch, ¹⁷  speaking the message ¹⁸  to no one but Jews.

Acts 13:46

13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, ¹⁹  “It was necessary to speak the word of God ²⁰  to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy ²¹  of eternal life, we ²²  are turning to the Gentiles. ²³ 

Matthew 10:6

10:6 Go ²⁴  instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Luke 24:47

24:47 and repentance ²⁵  for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ²⁶  in his name to all nations, ²⁷  beginning from Jerusalem. ²⁸ 

[2:38]  ¹ tn The verb is a third person imperative, but the common translation “let each of you be baptized” obscures the imperative force in English, since it sounds more like a permissive (“each of you may be baptized”) to the average English reader.

[2:38]  ² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:38]  ³ tn There is debate over the meaning of εἰς in the prepositional phrase εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν (eis afesin twn Jamartiwn Jumwn, “for/because of/with reference to the forgiveness of your sins”). Although a causal sense has been argued, it is difficult to maintain here. ExSyn 369-71 discusses at least four other ways of dealing with the passage: (1) The baptism referred to here is physical only, and εἰς has the meaning of “for” or “unto.” Such a view suggests that salvation is based on works – an idea that runs counter to the theology of Acts, namely: (a) repentance often precedes baptism (cf. Acts 3:19; 26:20), and (b) salvation is entirely a gift of God, not procured via water baptism (Acts 10:43 [cf. v. 47]; 13:38-39, 48; 15:11; 16:30-31; 20:21; 26:18); (2) The baptism referred to here is spiritual only. Although such a view fits well with the theology of Acts, it does not fit well with the obvious meaning of “baptism” in Acts – especially in this text (cf. 2:41); (3) The text should be repunctuated in light of the shift from second person plural to third person singular back to second person plural again. The idea then would be, “Repent for/with reference to your sins, and let each one of you be baptized…” Such a view is an acceptable way of handling εἰς, but its subtlety and awkwardness count against it; (4) Finally, it is possible that to a first-century Jewish audience (as well as to Peter), the idea of baptism might incorporate both the spiritual reality and the physical symbol. That Peter connects both closely in his thinking is clear from other passages such as Acts 10:47 and 11:15-16. If this interpretation is correct, then Acts 2:38 is saying very little about the specific theological relationship between the symbol and the reality, only that historically they were viewed together. One must look in other places for a theological analysis. For further discussion see R. N. Longenecker, “Acts,” EBC 9:283-85; B. Witherington, Acts, 154-55; F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary, 129-30; BDAG 290 s.v. εἰς 4.f.

[2:38]  ⁴ tn Here the genitive τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος (tou Jagiou pneumato") is a genitive of apposition; the gift consists of the Holy Spirit.

[2:39]  ⁵ sn The promise refers to the promise of the Holy Spirit that Jesus received from the Father in 2:33 and which he now pours out on others. The promise consists of the Holy Spirit (see note in 2:33). Jesus is the active mediator of God’s blessing.

[3:25]  ⁶ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[3:25]  ⁷ tn Or “in your offspring”; Grk “in your seed.”

[3:25]  ⁸ tn Or “families.” The Greek word πατριά (patria) can indicate persons of succeeding generations who are related by birth (“lineage,” “family”) but it can also indicate a relatively large unit of people who make up a sociopolitical group and who share a presumed biological descent. In many contexts πατριά is very similar to ἔθνος (eqnos) and λαός (laos). In light of the context of the OT quotation, it is better to translate πατριά as “nations” here.

[3:25]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Gen 22:18.

[3:26]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “God raising up his servant, sent him.” The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Some translations (e.g., NIV, NRSV) render this participle as temporal (“when God raised up his servant”).

[3:26]  ¹¹ sn The picture of turning is again seen as the appropriate response to the message. See v. 19 above. In v. 19 it was “turning to,” here it is “turning away from.” The direction of the two metaphors is important.

[3:26]  ¹² tn For the translation of plural πονηρία (ponhria) as “iniquities,” see G. Harder, TDNT 6:565. The plural is important, since for Luke turning to Jesus means turning away from sins, not just the sin of rejecting Jesus.

[11:19]  ¹³ sn The phrase over Stephen means in connection with Stephen’s death. See Acts 8:1b-3.

[11:19]  ¹⁴ tn Or “finally reached.” The translations “went as far as” and “finally reached” for διῆλθον (dihlqon) in this verse are given in L&N 15.17.

[11:19]  ¹⁵ sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine.

[11:19]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and Cyprus,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[11:19]  ¹⁷ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). This was probably the third largest city in the Greco-Roman world (Alexandria in Egypt was the second largest, and Rome the largest) and was the seat of government in Syria. Five miles away was a major temple to Artemis, Apollo, and Astarte, major pagan deities.

[11:19]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “word.”

[13:46]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.

[13:46]  ²⁰ tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.

[13:46]  ²¹ tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”

[13:46]  ²² tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.

[13:46]  ²³ sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.

[10:6]  ²⁴ tn Grk “But go.” The Greek μᾶλλον (mallon, “rather, instead”) conveys the adversative nuance here so that δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:47]  ²⁵ sn This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.

[24:47]  ²⁶ tn Or “preached,” “announced.”

[24:47]  ²⁷ sn To all nations. The same Greek term (τὰ ἔθνη, ta eqnh) may be translated “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” The hope of God in Christ was for all the nations from the beginning.

[24:47]  ²⁸ sn Beginning from Jerusalem. See Acts 2, which is where it all starts.