Acts 3:13

3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ¹  the God of our forefathers, ²  has glorified ³  his servant ⁴  Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected ⁵  in the presence of Pilate after he had decided ⁶  to release him.

Acts 3:25

3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, ⁷  saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants ⁸  all the nations ⁹  of the earth will be blessed.’ ¹⁰ 

Acts 7:38

7:38 This is the man who was in the congregation ¹¹  in the wilderness ¹²  with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, ¹³  and he ¹⁴  received living oracles ¹⁵  to give to you. ¹⁶ 

Acts 7:52

7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ¹⁷  not persecute? ¹⁸  They ¹⁹  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ²⁰  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ²¹ 

Acts 13:17

13:17 The God of this people Israel ²²  chose our ancestors ²³  and made the people great ²⁴  during their stay as foreigners ²⁵  in the country ²⁶  of Egypt, and with uplifted arm ²⁷  he led them out of it.

Acts 22:14

22:14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors ²⁸  has already chosen ²⁹  you to know his will, to see ³⁰  the Righteous One, ³¹  and to hear a command ³²  from his mouth,

[3:13]  ¹ tc ‡ The repetition of ὁ θεός (Jo qeos, “God”) before the names of Isaac and Jacob is found in Ì⁷⁴ א C (A D without article) 36 104 1175 pc lat. The omission of the second and third ὁ θεός is supported by B E Ψ 33 1739 Ï pc. The other time that Exod 3:6 is quoted in Acts (7:32) the best witnesses also lack the repeated ὁ θεός, but the three other times this OT passage is quoted in the NT the full form, with the thrice-mentioned θεός, is used (Matt 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37). Scribes would be prone to conform the wording here to the LXX; the longer reading is thus most likely not authentic. NA²⁷ has the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[3:13]  ² tn Or “ancestors”; Grk “fathers.”

[3:13]  ³ sn Has glorified. Jesus is alive, raised and active, as the healing illustrates so dramatically how God honors him.

[3:13]  ⁴ sn His servant. The term servant has messianic connotations given the context of the promise, the note of suffering, and the titles and functions noted in vv. 14-15.

[3:13]  ⁵ tn Or “denied,” “disowned.”

[3:13]  ⁶ tn This genitive absolute construction could be understood as temporal (“when he had decided”) or concessive (“although he had decided”).

[3:25]  ⁷ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[3:25]  ⁸ tn Or “in your offspring”; Grk “in your seed.”

[3:25]  ⁹ tn Or “families.” The Greek word πατριά (patria) can indicate persons of succeeding generations who are related by birth (“lineage,” “family”) but it can also indicate a relatively large unit of people who make up a sociopolitical group and who share a presumed biological descent. In many contexts πατριά is very similar to ἔθνος (eqnos) and λαός (laos). In light of the context of the OT quotation, it is better to translate πατριά as “nations” here.

[3:25]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Gen 22:18.

[7:38]  ¹³ tn This term, ἐκκλησία (ekklhsia), is a secular use of the term that came to mean “church” in the epistles. Here a reference to an assembly is all that is intended.

[7:38]  ¹⁴ tn Or “desert.”

[7:38]  ¹⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:38]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “fathers, who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he” and a new clause introduced by “and” was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.

[7:38]  ¹⁷ tn Or “messages.” This is an allusion to the law given to Moses.

[7:38]  ¹⁸ tc ‡ The first person pronoun ἡμῖν (Jhmin, “to us”) is read by A C D E Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat sy, while the second person pronoun ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”) is read by Ì⁷⁴ א B 36 453 al co. The second person pronoun thus has significantly better external support. As well, ὑμῖν is a harder reading in this context, both because it is surrounded by first person pronouns and because Stephen perhaps “does not wish to disassociate himself from those who received God’s revelation in the past, but only from those who misinterpreted and disobeyed that revelation” (TCGNT 307). At the same time, Stephen does associate himself to some degree with his disobedient ancestors in v. 39, suggesting that the decisive break does not really come until v. 51 (where both his present audience and their ancestors are viewed as rebellious). Thus, both externally and internally ὑμῖν is the preferred reading.

[7:52]  ¹⁹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ²⁰ sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

[7:52]  ²¹ tn Grk “And they.” 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.

[7:52]  ²² sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

[7:52]  ²³ sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).

[13:17]  ²⁵ tn Or “people of Israel.”

[13:17]  ²⁶ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[13:17]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Or “as resident aliens.”

[13:17]  ²⁹ tn Or “land.”

[13:17]  ³⁰ 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.

[22:14]  ³¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[22:14]  ³² tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance’…‘the God of our ancestors has already chosen you to know his will’ Ac 22:14.”

[22:14]  ³³ tn Grk “and to see.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[22:14]  ³⁴ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ (Acts 3:14).

[22:14]  ³⁵ tn Or “a solemn declaration”; Grk “a voice.” BDAG 1071-72 s.v. φωνή 2.c states, “that which the voice gives expression to: call, cry, outcry, loud or solemn declaration (… = order, command)…Cp. 22:14; 24:21.”