Acts 3:12

3:12 When Peter saw this, he declared to the people, “Men of Israel, ¹  why are you amazed at this? Why ²  do you stare at us as if we had made this man ³  walk by our own power or piety?

Acts 10:4

10:4 Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius ⁴  replied, ⁵  “What is it, Lord?” The angel ⁶  said to him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity ⁷  have gone up as a memorial ⁸  before God.

Acts 17:23

17:23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, ⁹  I even found an altar with this inscription: ¹⁰  ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, ¹¹  this I proclaim to you.

[3:12]  ¹ tn Or perhaps “People of Israel,” since this was taking place in Solomon’s Portico and women may have been present. The Greek ἄνδρες ᾿Ισραηλῖται (andre" Israhlitai) used in the plural would normally mean “men, gentlemen” (BDAG 79 s.v. ἀνήρ 1.a).

[3:12]  ² tn Grk “or why.”

[3:12]  ³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Cornelius) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ⁵ tn Grk “said,” but in response to the angel’s address, “replied” is better English style.

[10:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ⁷ tn Or “your gifts to the needy.”

[10:4]  ⁸ sn The language used in the expression gone up as a memorial before God parallels what one would say of acceptable sacrifices (Ps 141:2; Sir 35:6; 50:16).

[17:23]  ⁷ tn Or “your sanctuaries.” L&N 53.54 gives “sanctuary” (place of worship) as an alternate meaning for the word σεβάσματα (sebasmata).

[17:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “on which was written,” but since it would have been carved in stone, it is more common to speak of an “inscription” in English. To simplify the English the relative construction with a passive verb (“on which was inscribed”) was translated as a prepositional phrase with a substantive (“inscription”).

[17:23]  ⁹ tn BDAG 13 s.v. ἀγνοέω 1.b has “Abs. ὅ ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε what you worship without knowing it (on the subject matter Maximus Tyr. 11, 5e: all sorts of philosophers ἴσασιν οὐκ ἑκόντες καὶ λέγουσιν ἄκοντες sc. τὸ θεῖον = they know and name God without intending to do so) Ac 17:23.” Paul, in typical Jewish Christian style, informs them of the true God, of whom their idols are an ignorant reflection.