Acts 2:5

2:5 Now there were devout Jews ¹  from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. ² 

Acts 17:4

17:4 Some of them were persuaded ³  and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group ⁴  of God-fearing Greeks ⁵  and quite a few ⁶  prominent women.

Acts 17:17

17:17 So he was addressing ⁷  the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles ⁸  in the synagogue, ⁹  and in the marketplace every day ¹⁰  those who happened to be there.

Acts 10:22

10:22 They said, “Cornelius the centurion, ¹¹  a righteous ¹²  and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, ¹³  was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message ¹⁴  from you.”

Acts 13:43

13:43 When the meeting of the synagogue ¹⁵  had broken up, ¹⁶  many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes ¹⁷  followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading ¹⁸  them ¹⁹  to continue ²⁰  in the grace of God.

Acts 13:50

13:50 But the Jews incited ²¹  the God-fearing women of high social standing and the prominent men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out ²²  of their region.

Acts 8:2

8:2 Some ²³  devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation ²⁴  over him. ²⁵ 

Acts 10:2

10:2 He ²⁶  was a devout, God-fearing man, ²⁷  as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people ²⁸  and prayed to God regularly.

Acts 10:7

10:7 When the angel who had spoken to him departed, Cornelius ²⁹  called two of his personal servants ³⁰  and a devout soldier from among those who served him, ³¹ 

Acts 16:14

16:14 A ³²  woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth ³³  from the city of Thyatira, ³⁴  a God-fearing woman, listened to us. ³⁵  The Lord opened her heart to respond ³⁶  to what Paul was saying.

Acts 22:12

22:12 A man named Ananias, ³⁷  a devout man according to the law, ³⁸  well spoken of by all the Jews who live there, ³⁹ 

Acts 13:26

13:26 Brothers, ⁴⁰  descendants ⁴¹  of Abraham’s family, ⁴²  and those Gentiles among you who fear God, ⁴³  the message ⁴⁴  of this salvation has been sent to us.

Acts 18:7

18:7 Then Paul ⁴⁵  left ⁴⁶  the synagogue ⁴⁷  and went to the house of a person named Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God, ⁴⁸  whose house was next door to the synagogue.

[2:5]  ¹ tn Grk “Jews, devout men.” It is possible that only men are in view here in light of OT commands for Jewish men to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at various times during the year (cf. Exod 23:17, 34:23; Deut 16:16). However, other evidence seems to indicate that both men and women might be in view. Luke 2:41-52 shows that whole families would make the temporary trip to Jerusalem. In addition, it is probable that the audience consisted of families who had taken up permanent residence in Jerusalem. The verb κατοικέω (katoikew) normally means “reside” or “dwell,” and archaeological evidence from tombs in Jerusalem does indicate that many families immigrated to Jerusalem permanently (see B. Witherington, Acts, 135); this would naturally include women. Also, the word ἀνήρ (ajnhr), which usually does mean “male” or “man” (as opposed to woman), sometimes is used generically to mean “a person” (BDAG 79 s.v. 2; cf. Matt 12:41). Given this evidence, then, it is conceivable that the audience in view here is not individual male pilgrims but a mixed group of men and women.

[2:5]  ² tn Grk “Now there were residing in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.”

[17:4]  ³ tn Or “convinced.”

[17:4]  ⁴ tn Or “a large crowd.”

[17:4]  ⁵ tn Or “of devout Greeks,” 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. Luke frequently mentions such people (Acts 13:43, 50; 16:14; 17:17; 18:7).

[17:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).

[17:17]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[17:17]  ⁸ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.

[10:22]  ⁷ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[10:22]  ⁸ tn Or “just.”

[10:22]  ⁹ tn The phrase τοῦ ἔθνους τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (tou eqnou" twn Ioudaiwn) is virtually a technical term for the Jewish nation (1 Macc 10:25; 11:30, 33; Josephus, Ant. 14.10.22 [14.248]). “All the Jewish people,” while another possible translation of the Greek phrase, does not convey the technical sense of a reference to the nation in English.

[10:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “hear words.”

[13:43]  ⁹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[13:43]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 607 s.v. λύω 3 has “λυθείσης τ. συναγωγῆς when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up Ac 13:43.”

[13:43]  ¹¹ tn Normally the phrase σεβόμενοι τὸν θεόν (sebomenoi ton qeon) refers to Gentiles (“God-fearers”) who believed in God, attended the synagogue, and followed the Mosaic law to some extent, but stopped short of undergoing circumcision. BDAG 918 s.v. σέβω 1.b lists in this category references in Acts 16:14; 18:7; with σεβόμενοι alone, Acts 13:50; 17:4, 17; the phrase is also found in Josephus, Ant. 14.7.2 (14.110). Unique to this particular verse is the combination σεβόμενοι προσηλύτων (sebomenoi proshlutwn). Later rabbinic discussion suggests that to be regarded as a proper proselyte, a Gentile male had to submit to circumcision. If that is the case here, these Gentiles in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch should be regarded as full proselytes who had converted completely to Judaism and undergone circumcision. It is probably more likely, however, that προσηλύτων is used here in a somewhat looser sense (note the use of σεβομένας [sebomena"] alone to refer to women in Acts 13:50) and that these Gentiles were still in the category commonly called “God-fearers” without being full, technical proselytes to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Regardless, the point is that many Gentiles, as well as Jews, came to faith.

[13:43]  ¹² tn This is the meaning given for ἔπειθον (epeiqon) in this verse by BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.b.

[13:43]  ¹³ tn Grk “who, as they were speaking with them, were persuading them.”

[13:43]  ¹⁴ tn The verb προμένειν (promenein) is similar in force to the use of μένω (menw, “to reside/remain”) in the Gospel and Epistles of John.

[13:50]  ¹¹ tn For the translation of παρώτρυναν (parwtrunan) as “incited” see BDAG 780 s.v. παροτρύνω.

[13:50]  ¹² tn BDAG 299 s.v. ἐκβάλλω 1 has “throw out.” Once again, many Jews reacted to the message (Acts 5:17, 33; 6:11; 13:45).

[8:2]  ¹³ tn “Some” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[8:2]  ¹⁴ sn Made loud lamentation. For someone who was stoned to death, lamentation was normally not allowed (m. Sanhedrin 6:6). The remark points to an unjust death.

[8:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “mourned greatly for him.”

[10:2]  ¹⁵ tn In the Greek text this represents a continuation of the previous sentence. Because of the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[10:2]  ¹⁶ sn The description of Cornelius as a devout, God-fearing man probably means that he belonged to 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, 43-44, and Sir 11:17; 27:11; 39:27.

[10:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “gave many gifts to the poor.” This was known as “giving alms,” or acts of mercy (Sir 7:10; BDAG 315-16 s.v. ἐλεημοσύνη).

[10:7]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Cornelius) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:7]  ¹⁸ tn Or “domestic servants.” The Greek word here is οἰκέτης (oiketh"), which technically refers to a member of the household, but usually means a household servant (slave) or personal servant rather than a field laborer.

[10:7]  ¹⁹ tn The meaning of the genitive participle προσκαρτερούντων (proskarterountwn) could either be “a soldier from the ranks of those who served him” (referring to his entire command) or “a soldier from among his personal staff” (referring to a group of soldiers who were his personal attendants). The translation “from among those who served him” is general enough to cover either possibility.

[16:14]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And a.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[16:14]  ²⁰ tn On the term translated “a dealer in purple cloth” see BDAG 855 s.v. πορφυρόπωλις.

[16:14]  ²¹ sn Thyatira was a city in the province of Lydia in Asia Minor.

[16:14]  ²² tn The words “to us” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[16:14]  ²³ tn Although BDAG 880 s.v. προσέχω 2.b gives the meaning “pay attention to” here, this could be misunderstood by the modern English reader to mean merely listening intently. The following context, however, indicates that Lydia responded positively to Paul’s message, so the verb here was translated “to respond.”

[22:12]  ²¹ tn Grk “a certain Ananias.”

[22:12]  ²² sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[22:12]  ²³ tn BDAG 534 s.v. κατοικέω 1.a translates this present participle “ὑπὸ πάντων τῶν (sc. ἐκεῖ) κατοικούντων ᾿Ιουδαίων by all the Jews who live there Ac 22:12.”

[13:26]  ²³ tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[13:26]  ²⁴ tn Grk “sons”

[13:26]  ²⁵ tn Or “race.”

[13:26]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Grk “word.”

[18:7]  ²⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:7]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Then leaving from there he went.” The participle μεταβάς (metabas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “from there”; the referent (the synagogue) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:7]  ²⁸ tn Grk “a worshiper of God.” The clarifying phrase “a Gentile” has been supplied for clarity, and is indicated by the context, since Paul had parted company with the Jews in the previous verse. The participle σεβομένου (sebomenou) 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.