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 7:2

7:2 So he replied, ⁷  “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our forefather ⁸  Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,

Acts 7:38

7:38 This is the man who was in the congregation ⁹  in the wilderness ¹⁰  with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, ¹¹  and he ¹²  received living oracles ¹³  to give to you. ¹⁴ 

Acts 7:40

7:40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go in front of us, for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt ¹⁵  – we do not know what has happened to him!’ ¹⁶ 

Acts 7:44

7:44 Our ancestors ¹⁷  had the tabernacle ¹⁸  of testimony in the wilderness, ¹⁹  just as God ²⁰  who spoke to Moses ordered him ²¹  to make it according to the design he had seen.

Acts 9:38

9:38 Because Lydda ²²  was near Joppa, when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Come to us without delay.” ²³ 

Acts 13:17

13:17 The God of this people Israel ²⁴  chose our ancestors ²⁵  and made the people great ²⁶  during their stay as foreigners ²⁷  in the country ²⁸  of Egypt, and with uplifted arm ²⁹  he led them out of it.

Acts 16:16

Paul and Silas Are Thrown Into Prison

16:16 Now ³⁰  as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means. ³¹  She ³²  brought her owners ³³  a great profit by fortune-telling. ³⁴ 

Acts 20:7

20:7 On the first day ³⁵  of the week, when we met ³⁶  to break bread, Paul began to speak ³⁷  to the people, and because he intended ³⁸  to leave the next day, he extended ³⁹  his message until midnight.

Acts 22:14

22:14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors ⁴⁰  has already chosen ⁴¹  you to know his will, to see ⁴²  the Righteous One, ⁴³  and to hear a command ⁴⁴  from his mouth,

Acts 26:14

26:14 When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ⁴⁵  ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself ⁴⁶  by kicking against the goads.’ ⁴⁷ 

Acts 27:10

27:10 “Men, I can see the voyage is going to end ⁴⁸  in disaster ⁴⁹  and great loss not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” ⁵⁰ 

Acts 28:15

28:15 The brothers from there, ⁵¹  when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius ⁵²  and Three Taverns ⁵³  to meet us. When he saw them, ⁵⁴  Paul thanked God and took courage.

[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”).

[7:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “said.”

[7:2]  ⁸ tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”

[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.

[7:40]  ¹⁹ tn Or simply “of Egypt.” The phrase “the land of” could be omitted as unnecessary or redundant.

[7:40]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 32:1, 23. Doubt (we do not know what has happened to him) expresses itself in unfaithful action. The act is in contrast to God’s promise in Exod 23:20.

[7:44]  ²⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:44]  ²⁶ tn Or “tent.”

[7:44]  ²⁷ tn Or “desert.”

[7:44]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:44]  ²⁹ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[9:38]  ³¹ sn Lydda was a city northwest of Jerusalem on the way to Joppa.

[9:38]  ³² tn Grk “Do not delay to come to us.” It is somewhat smoother to say in English, “Come to us without delay.”

[13:17]  ³⁷ tn Or “people of Israel.”

[13:17]  ³⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[13:17]  ³⁹ 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]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “as resident aliens.”

[13:17]  ⁴¹ tn Or “land.”

[13:17]  ⁴² 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.

[16:16]  ⁴³ tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[16:16]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “who had a spirit of divination”; Grk “who had a spirit of Python.” According to BDAG 896-97 s.v. πύθων, originally Πύθων (Puqwn) was the name of the serpent or dragon that guarded the Delphic oracle. According to Greek mythology, it lived at the foot of Mount Parnassus and was killed by Apollo. From this, the word came to designate a person who was thought to have a spirit of divination. Pagan generals, for example, might consult someone like this. So her presence here suggests a supernatural encounter involving Paul and her “spirit.” W. Foerster, TDNT 6:920, connects the term with ventriloquism but states: “We must assume, however, that for this girl, as for those mentioned by Origen…, the art of ventriloquism was inseparably connected with a (supposed or authentic) gift of soothsaying.” It should also be noted that if the girl in question here were only a ventriloquist, the exorcism performed by Paul in v. 18 would not have been effective.

[16:16]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “who.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who had a spirit…who brought her owners a great profit”) the relative pronoun here (“who”) has been translated as a pronoun (“she”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[16:16]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “masters.”

[16:16]  ⁴⁷ tn On this term see BDAG 616 s.v. μαντεύομαι. It was used of those who gave oracles.

[20:7]  ⁴⁹ sn On the first day. This is the first mention of a Sunday gathering (1 Cor 16:2).

[20:7]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “assembled.”

[20:7]  ⁵¹ tn The verb διαλέγομαι (dialegomai) is frequently used of Paul addressing Jews in the synagogue. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21. In the context of a Christian gathering, it is preferable to translate διελέγετο (dielegeto) simply as “speak” here. The imperfect verb διελέγετο has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[20:7]  ⁵² tn BDAG 628 s.v. μέλλω 1.c.γ has “denoting an intended action: intend, propose, have in mind…Ac 17:31; 20:3, 7, 13ab; 23:15; 26:2; 27:30.”

[20:7]  ⁵³ tn Or “prolonged.”

[22:14]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[22:14]  ⁵⁶ 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]  ⁵⁷ 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]  ⁵⁸ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ (Acts 3:14).

[22:14]  ⁵⁹ 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.”

[26:14]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “in the Hebrew language.” See Acts 22:7 and 9:4.

[26:14]  ⁶² tn Grk “It is hard for you.”

[26:14]  ⁶³ tn “Goads” are pointed sticks used to direct a draft animal (an idiom for stubborn resistance). See BDAG 539-40 s.v. κέντρον 2.

[27:10]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “is going to be with disaster.”

[27:10]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “hardship,” “damage.” BDAG 1022 s.v. ὕβρις 3 states, “fig. hardship, disaster, damage caused by the elements…w. ζημία Ac 27:10.”

[27:10]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “souls” (here, one’s physical life).

[28:15]  ⁷³ sn Mention of Christian brothers from there (Rome) shows that God’s message had already spread as far as Italy and the capital of the empire.

[28:15]  ⁷⁴ sn The Forum of Appius was a small traveler’s stop on the Appian Way about 43 mi (71 km) south of Rome (BDAG 125 s.v. ᾿Αππίου φόρον). It was described by Horace as “crammed with boatmen and stingy tavernkeepers” (Satires 1.5.3).

[28:15]  ⁷⁵ sn Three Taverns was a stop on the Appian Way 33 mi (55 km) south of Rome.

[28:15]  ⁷⁶ tn Grk “whom, when he saw [them], Paul.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the personal pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun here in the translation.