Acts 21:39

21:39 Paul answered, ¹  “I am a Jew ²  from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. ³  Please ⁴  allow me to speak to the people.”

Acts 5:36

5:36 For some time ago ⁵  Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He ⁶  was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and nothing came of it. ⁷ 

Acts 16:12

16:12 and from there to Philippi, ⁸  which is a leading city of that district ⁹  of Macedonia, ¹⁰  a Roman colony. ¹¹  We stayed in this city for some days.

Acts 17:4

17:4 Some of them were persuaded ¹²  and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group ¹³  of God-fearing Greeks ¹⁴  and quite a few ¹⁵  prominent women.

Acts 23:17

23:17 Paul called ¹⁶  one of the centurions ¹⁷  and said, “Take this young man to the commanding officer, ¹⁸  for he has something to report to him.”

Acts 27:34

27:34 Therefore I urge you to take some food, for this is important ¹⁹  for your survival. ²⁰  For not one of you will lose a hair from his head.”

Acts 4:16

4:16 saying, “What should we do with these men? For it is plain ²¹  to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign ²²  has come about through them, ²³  and we cannot deny it.

Acts 8:27

8:27 So ²⁴  he got up ²⁵  and went. There ²⁶  he met ²⁷  an Ethiopian eunuch, ²⁸  a court official of Candace, ²⁹  queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He ³⁰  had come to Jerusalem to worship, ³¹ 

Acts 13:17

13:17 The God of this people Israel ³²  chose our ancestors ³³  and made the people great ³⁴  during their stay as foreigners ³⁵  in the country ³⁶  of Egypt, and with uplifted arm ³⁷  he led them out of it.

Acts 13:43

13:43 When the meeting of the synagogue ³⁸  had broken up, ³⁹  many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes ⁴⁰  followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading ⁴¹  them ⁴²  to continue ⁴³  in the grace of God.

[21:39]  ¹ tn Grk “said.”

[21:39]  ² tn Grk “a Jewish man.”

[21:39]  ³ tn Grk “of a not insignificant city.” The double negative, common in Greek, is awkward in English and has been replaced by a corresponding positive expression (BDAG 142 s.v. ἄσημος 1).

[21:39]  ⁴ tn Grk “I beg you.”

[5:36]  ⁵ tn Grk “For before these days.”

[5:36]  ⁶ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he,” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point.

[5:36]  ⁷ tn Grk “and they came to nothing.” Gamaliel’s argument is that these two insurrectionists were taken care of by natural events.

[16:12]  ⁹ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[16:12]  ¹⁰ tc ‡ Or perhaps, “a city in the first district” (there are a number of textual variants). L&N 1.85 follow the text of UBS⁴ and NA²⁷ here: “In Ac 16:12…the Greek New Testament published by the United Bible Societies has adopted a conjectural emendation, since the more traditional text, πρώτη τῆς μερίδος, literally ‘first of the district,’ is not only misleading in meaning but does not reflect the historical fact that Philippi was a city in one of the four districts of Macedonia but was not a capital city.” The original text is probably πρώτη τῆς μερίδος (prwth th" merido", “first of that district”) as found in Ì⁷⁴ א A C Ψ 33^vid 36 81 323 945 1175 1891 pc. This has traditionally been translated to give the impression that Philippi was the capital city of the district, but it does not necessarily have to be translated this way. The translation of the article before μερίδος as “that” acknowledges that there were other districts in the province of Macedonia.

[16:12]  ¹¹ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[16:12]  ¹² sn A Roman colony was a city whose residents were regarded as Roman citizens, since such cities were originally colonized by citizens of Rome. From Troas to Philippi was 130 mi (208 km).

[17:4]  ¹³ tn Or “convinced.”

[17:4]  ¹⁴ tn Or “a large crowd.”

[17:4]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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).

[23:17]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “calling…Paul said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:17]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[23:17]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 10.

[27:34]  ²¹ tn Or “necessary.” BDAG 873-74 s.v. πρός 1 has “πρ. τῆς σωτηρίας in the interest of safety Ac 27:34”; L&N 27.18 has “‘therefore, I urge you to take some food, for this is important for your deliverance’ or ‘…for your survival’ Ac 27:34.”

[27:34]  ²² tn Or “deliverance” (‘salvation’ in a nontheological sense).

[4:16]  ²⁵ tn Or “evident.”

[4:16]  ²⁶ tn Here σημεῖον (shmeion) has been translated as “miraculous sign” rather than simply “sign” or “miracle” since both components appear to be present in the context. It is clear that the healing of the lame man was a miracle, but for the Sanhedrin it was the value of the miraculous healing as a sign that concerned them because it gave attestation to the message of Peter and John. The sign “speaks” as Peter claimed in 3:11-16.

[4:16]  ²⁷ tn Or “has been done by them.”

[8:27]  ²⁹ tn Grk “And,” but καί (kai) carries something of a resultative force in this context because what follows describes Philip’s response to the angel’s command.

[8:27]  ³⁰ tn Grk “So getting up he went.” The aorist participle ἀναστάς (anastas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[8:27]  ³¹ tn Grk “And there.” 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.

[8:27]  ³² tn Grk “and behold.” This expression is used to portray Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian in a vivid way. In the English translation this vividness is difficult to convey; it is necessary to supply the words “he met.”

[8:27]  ³³ sn The term eunuch normally referred to a man who had been castrated, but this was not always the case (see Gen 39:1 LXX, where Potiphar is called a eunuch). Such castrated individuals were preferred as court officials in the East, although Judaism opposed the practice. The Mosaic law excluded eunuchs from Israel (Deut 23:1), although God certainly accepted them (Isa 56:3-5; Wis 3:14). This individual was a high official, since he was said to be in charge of all her treasury. He may or may not have been a eunuch physically. He appears to be the first fully Gentile convert to Christianity, since the Samaritans mentioned previously (Acts 8:4-25) were regarded as half-breeds.

[8:27]  ³⁴ tn Or “the Candace” (the title of the queen of the Ethiopians). The term Κανδάκης (Kandakh") is much more likely a title rather than a proper name (like Pharaoh, which is a title); see L&N 37.77. A few, however, still take the word to be the name of the queen (L&N 93.209). BDAG 507 s.v. Κανδάκη, treats the term as a title and lists classical usage by Strabo (Geography 17.1.54) and others.

[8:27]  ³⁵ tn Grk “who was over all her treasury, who.” The two consecutive relative clauses make for awkward English style, so the second was begun as a new sentence with the pronoun “he” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun to make a complete sentence in English.

[8:27]  ³⁶ sn Since this man had come to Jerusalem to worship, he may have been a proselyte to Judaism. This event is a precursor to Acts 10.

[13:17]  ³³ tn Or “people of Israel.”

[13:17]  ³⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[13:17]  ³⁵ tn That is, in both numbers and in power. The implication of greatness in both numbers and in power is found in BDAG 1046 s.v. ὑψόω 2.

[13:17]  ³⁶ tn Or “as resident aliens.”

[13:17]  ³⁷ tn Or “land.”

[13:17]  ³⁸ sn Here uplifted arm is a metaphor for God’s power by which he delivered the Israelites from Egypt. See Exod 6:1, 6; 32:11; Deut 3:24; 4:34; Ps 136:11-12.

[13:43]  ³⁷ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[13:43]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ tn This is the meaning given for ἔπειθον (epeiqon) in this verse by BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.b.

[13:43]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “who, as they were speaking with them, were persuading them.”

[13:43]  ⁴² 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.