Acts 2:39

2:39 For the promise ¹  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 14:4

14:4 But the population ²  of the city was divided; some ³  sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles.

Acts 15:23

15:23 They sent this letter with them: ⁴ 

From the apostles ⁵  and elders, your brothers, ⁶  to the Gentile brothers and sisters ⁷  in Antioch, ⁸  Syria, ⁹  and Cilicia, greetings!

Acts 17:17

17:17 So he was addressing ¹⁰  the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles ¹¹  in the synagogue, ¹²  and in the marketplace every day ¹³  those who happened to be there.

Acts 23:14

23:14 They ¹⁴  went ¹⁵  to the chief priests ¹⁶  and the elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath ¹⁷  not to partake ¹⁸  of anything until we have killed Paul.

Acts 24:5

24:5 For we have found ¹⁹  this man to be a troublemaker, ²⁰  one who stirs up riots ²¹  among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader ²²  of the sect of the Nazarenes. ²³ 

[2:39]  ¹ 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.

[14:4]  ² tn BDAG 825 s.v. πλῆθος 2.b.γ has this translation for πλῆθος (plhqo").

[14:4]  ³ tn These clauses are a good example of the contrastive μὲν…δέ (men…de) construction: Some “on the one hand” sided with the Jews, but some “on the other hand” sided with the apostles.

[15:23]  ³ tn Grk “writing by their hand” (an idiom for sending a letter).

[15:23]  ⁴ tn Grk “The apostles.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[15:23]  ⁵ tn Grk “brothers,” but “your” is supplied to specify the relationship, since without it “brothers” could be understood as vocative in English.

[15:23]  ⁶ tn Grk “to the brothers who are from the Gentiles.”

[15:23]  ⁷ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “and Syria,” 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.

[17:17]  ⁴ tn Although the word διελέξατο (dielexato; from διαλέγομαι, dialegomai) is frequently translated “reasoned,” “disputed,” or “argued,” this sense comes from its classical meaning where it was used of philosophical disputation, including the Socratic method of questions and answers. However, there does not seem to be contextual evidence for this kind of debate in Acts 17:17. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21.

[17:17]  ⁵ tn Or “and the devout,” 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, and the note on the phrase “God-fearing Greeks” in 17:4.

[17:17]  ⁶ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[17:17]  ⁷ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.

[23:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[23:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “going.” The participle προσελθόντες (proselqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:14]  ⁷ sn They went to the chief priests. The fact that the high priest knew of this plot and did nothing shows the Jewish leadership would even become accomplices to murder to stop Paul. They would not allow Roman justice to take its course. Paul’s charge in v. 3 of superficially following the law is thus shown to be true.

[23:14]  ⁸ tn Or “bound ourselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone…pleonastically ἀναθέματι ἀ. ἑαυτόν Ac 23:14…ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.” The pleonastic use ἀναθέματι ἀνεθεματίσαμεν (literally “we have cursed ourselves with a curse”) probably serves as an intensifier following Semitic usage, and is represented in the translation by the word “solemn.” On such oaths see m. Nedarim 3:1, 3.

[23:14]  ⁹ tn This included both food and drink (γεύομαι [geuomai] is used of water turned to wine in John 2:9).

[24:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “For having found.” The participle εὑρόντες (Jeurontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[24:5]  ⁷ tn L&N 22.6 has “(a figurative extension of meaning of λοιμός ‘plague,’ 23.158) one who causes all sorts of trouble – ‘troublemaker, pest.’ … ‘for we have found this man to be a troublemaker” Ac 24:5.”

[24:5]  ⁸ tn Or “dissensions.” While BDAG 940 s.v. στάσις 3 translates this phrase “κινεῖν στάσεις (v.l. στάσιν) τισί create dissension among certain people Ac 24:5,” it is better on the basis of the actual results of Paul’s ministry to categorize this usage under section 2, “uprising, riot, revolt, rebellion” (cf. the use in Acts 19:40).

[24:5]  ⁹ tn This term is yet another NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 894 s.v. πρωτοστάτης).

[24:5]  ¹⁰ sn The sect of the Nazarenes is a designation for followers of Jesus the Nazarene, that is, Christians.