Acts 23:29

23:29 I found he ¹  was accused with reference to controversial questions ²  about their law, but no charge against him deserved death or imprisonment. ³ 

Acts 6:13

6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ⁴  and the law. ⁵ 

Acts 18:15

18:15 but since it concerns points of disagreement ⁶  about words and names and your own law, settle ⁷  it yourselves. I will not be ⁸  a judge of these things!”

Acts 13:15

13:15 After the reading from the law and the prophets, ⁹  the leaders of the synagogue ¹⁰  sent them a message, ¹¹  saying, “Brothers, ¹²  if you have any message ¹³  of exhortation ¹⁴  for the people, speak it.” ¹⁵ 

Acts 21:20

21:20 When they heard this, they praised ¹⁶  God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews ¹⁷  there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers ¹⁸  of the law. ¹⁹ 

Acts 21:28

21:28 shouting, “Men of Israel, ²⁰  help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, ²¹  and this sanctuary! ²²  Furthermore ²³  he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple ²⁴  and made this holy place ritually unclean!” ²⁵ 

Acts 22:3

22:3 “I am a Jew, ²⁶  born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up ²⁷  in this city, educated with strictness ²⁸  under ²⁹  Gamaliel ³⁰  according to the law of our ancestors, ³¹  and was ³²  zealous ³³  for God just as all of you are today.

Acts 28:23

28:23 They set ³⁴  a day to meet with him, ³⁵  and they came to him where he was staying ³⁶  in even greater numbers. ³⁷  From morning until evening he explained things ³⁸  to them, ³⁹  testifying ⁴⁰  about the kingdom of God ⁴¹  and trying to convince ⁴²  them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets.

[23:29]  ¹ tn Grk “whom I found.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been changed to a personal pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence begun in the translation at this point.

[23:29]  ² tn BDAG 428 s.v. ζήτημα states, “in our lit. only in Ac, w. the mng. it still has in Mod. Gk. (controversial) question, issue, argument…Ac 15:2; 26:3. ζ. περί τινος questions about someth.…18:15; 25:19. – In 23:29, since περί had already been used, the subj. of the discussion is added in the gen. ζ. τοῦ νόμου αὐτῶν.”

[23:29]  ³ tn Grk “but having no charge worthy of death or imprisonment.” BDAG 273-74 s.v. ἔγκλημα 1 has “legal t.t.…ἔ. ἄξιον θανάτου ἢ δεσμῶν a charge deserving death or imprisonment 23:29.”

[6:13]  ⁴ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

[6:13]  ⁵ sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.

[18:15]  ⁷ tn Or “dispute.”

[18:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “see to it” (an idiom).

[18:15]  ⁹ tn Or “I am not willing to be.” Gallio would not adjudicate their religious dispute.

[13:15]  ¹⁰ sn After the reading from the law and the prophets. In the 1st century Jewish synagogue, it was customary after the reading of the Torah (law) and prophets for men to give exhortation from the scriptures.

[13:15]  ¹¹ tn Normally ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93). Since the term is plural here, however, and it would sound strange to the English reader to speak of “the presidents of the synagogue,” the alternative translation “leaders” is used. “Rulers” would also be acceptable, but does not convey quite the same idea.

[13:15]  ¹² tn Grk “sent to them”; the word “message” is an understood direct object. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[13:15]  ¹³ tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[13:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “word.”

[13:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “encouragement.”

[13:15]  ¹⁶ tn Or “give it.”

[21:20]  ¹³ tn Or “glorified.”

[21:20]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “how many thousands there are among the Jews.”

[21:20]  ¹⁵ tn Or “are all zealous for the law.” BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.β has “of thing…τοῦ νόμου an ardent observer of the law Ac 21:20.”

[21:20]  ¹⁶ sn That is, the law of Moses. These Jewish Christians had remained close to their Jewish practices after becoming believers (1 Cor 7:18-19; Acts 16:3).

[21:28]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage since “the whole crowd” is mentioned in v. 27, although it can also be argued that these remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

[21:28]  ¹⁷ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[21:28]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “this place.”

[21:28]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 400 s.v. ἔτι 2.b has “ἔ. δὲ καί furthermore…al. ἔ. τε καί…Lk 14:26; Ac 21:28.” This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek, but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[21:28]  ²⁰ tn Grk “into the temple.” The specific reference is to the Court of the Sons of Israel (see the note following the term “unclean” at the end of this verse). To avoid giving the modern reader the impression that they entered the temple building itself, the phrase “the inner courts of the temple” has been used in the translation.

[21:28]  ²¹ tn Or “and has defiled this holy place.”

[22:3]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “a Jewish man.”

[22:3]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b has “of mental and spiritual nurture bring up, rear, train…ἀνατεθραμμένος ἐν τ. πόλει ταύτῃ 22:3.”

[22:3]  ²¹ tn Or “with precision.” Although often translated “strictly” this can be misunderstood for “solely” in English. BDAG 39 s.v. ἀκρίβεια gives the meaning as “exactness, precision.” To avoid the potential misunderstanding the translation “with strictness” is used, although it is slightly more awkward than “strictly.”

[22:3]  ²² tn Grk “strictly at the feet of” (an idiom).

[22:3]  ²³ tn Or “brought up in this city under Gamaliel, educated with strictness…” The phrase παρὰ τοὺς πόδας Γαμαλιὴλ (para tou" poda" Gamalihl) could be understood with what precedes or with what follows. The punctuation of NA²⁷ and UBS⁴, which place a comma after ταύτῃ (tauth), has been followed in the translation.

[22:3]  ²⁴ tn Or “our forefathers.”

[22:3]  ²⁵ tn Grk “ancestors, being.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[22:3]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.α has “of pers. …ζ. τοῦ θεοῦ one who is loyal to God Ac 22:3.”

[28:23]  ²² tn Grk “Having set.” The participle ταξάμενοι (taxamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[28:23]  ²³ tn Grk “Having set a day with him”; the words “to meet” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[28:23]  ²⁴ tn Or “came to him in his rented quarters.”

[28:23]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 848 s.v. πολύς 1.b.β.ב states, “(even) more πλείονες in even greater numbers Ac 28:23.”

[28:23]  ²⁶ tn The word “things” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[28:23]  ²⁷ tn Grk “to whom he explained.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation.

[28:23]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 1 has “to make a solemn declaration about the truth of someth. testify of, bear witness to (orig. under oath)…God’s kingdom 28:23.”

[28:23]  ²⁹ sn Testifying about the kingdom of God. The topic is important. Paul’s preaching was about the rule of God and his promise in Jesus. Paul’s text was the Jewish scriptures.

[28:23]  ³⁰ tn Or “persuade.”