Acts 20:26-27

20:26 Therefore I declare ¹  to you today that I am innocent ²  of the blood of you all. ³  20:27 For I did not hold back from ⁴  announcing ⁵  to you the whole purpose ⁶  of God.

Acts 20:33

20:33 I have desired ⁷  no one’s silver or gold or clothing.

Acts 20:35

20:35 By all these things, ⁸  I have shown you that by working in this way we must help ⁹  the weak, ¹⁰  and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” ¹¹ 

[20:26]  ¹ tn Or “testify.”

[20:26]  ² tn Grk “clean, pure,” thus “guiltless” (BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a).

[20:26]  ³ tn That is, “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible” (an idiom). According to L&N 33.223, the meaning of the phrase “that I am innocent of the blood of all of you” is “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible.” However, due to the length of this phrase and its familiarity to many modern English readers, the translation was kept closer to formal equivalence in this case. The word “you” is not in the Greek text, but is implied; Paul is addressing the Ephesian congregation (in the person of its elders) in both v. 25 and 27.

[20:27]  ⁴ tn Or “did not avoid.” BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 2.b has “shrink from, avoid implying fear…οὐ γὰρ ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι I did not shrink from proclaiming Ac 20:27”; L&N 13.160 has “to hold oneself back from doing something, with the implication of some fearful concern – ‘to hold back from, to shrink from, to avoid’…‘for I have not held back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God’ Ac 20:27.”

[20:27]  ⁵ tn Or “proclaiming,” “declaring.”

[20:27]  ⁶ tn Or “plan.”

[20:33]  ⁷ tn Traditionally, “coveted.” BDAG 371 s.v. ἐπιθυμέω 1 has “to have a strong desire to do or secure someth., desire, long for w. gen. of the thing desired…silver, gold, clothing Ac 20:33.” The traditional term “covet” is not in common usage and difficult for many modern English readers to understand. The statement affirms Paul’s integrity. He was not doing this for personal financial gain.

[20:35]  ¹⁰ sn The expression By all these things means “In everything I did.”

[20:35]  ¹¹ tn Or “must assist.”

[20:35]  ¹² tn Or “the sick.” See Eph 4:28.

[20:35]  ¹³ sn The saying is similar to Matt 10:8. Service and generosity should be abundant. Interestingly, these exact words are not found in the gospels. Paul must have known of this saying from some other source.