Acts 3:13-26

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. 3:14 But you rejected ⁷  the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you. 3:15 You killed ⁸  the Originator ⁹  of life, whom God raised ¹⁰  from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses! ¹¹  3:16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus’ ¹²  name, ¹³  his very name has made this man – whom you see and know – strong. The ¹⁴  faith that is through Jesus ¹⁵  has given him this complete health in the presence ¹⁶  of you all. 3:17 And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance, ¹⁷  as your rulers did too. 3:18 But the things God foretold ¹⁸  long ago through ¹⁹  all the prophets – that his Christ ²⁰  would suffer – he has fulfilled in this way. 3:19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out, 3:20 so that times of refreshing ²¹  may come from the presence of the Lord, ²²  and so that he may send the Messiah ²³  appointed ²⁴  for you – that is, Jesus. 3:21 This one ²⁵  heaven must ²⁶  receive until the time all things are restored, ²⁷  which God declared ²⁸  from times long ago ²⁹  through his holy prophets. 3:22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must obey ³⁰  him in everything he tells you. ³¹  3:23 Every person ³²  who does not obey that prophet will be destroyed and thus removed ³³  from the people.’ ³⁴  3:24 And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced ³⁵  these days. 3:25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, ³⁶  saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants ³⁷  all the nations ³⁸  of the earth will be blessed.’ ³⁹  3:26 God raised up ⁴⁰  his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning ⁴¹  each one of you from your iniquities.” ⁴² 

[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”).

[3:14]  ⁷ tn Or “denied,” “disowned.”

[3:15]  ⁸ tn Or “You put to death.”

[3:15]  ⁹ tn Or “Founder,” “founding Leader.”

[3:15]  ¹⁰ sn Whom God raised. God is the main actor here, as he testifies to Jesus and vindicates him.

[3:15]  ¹¹ tn Grk “whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” The two consecutive relative clauses make for awkward English style, so the second was begun as a new sentence with the words “to this fact” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun to make a complete sentence in English.

[3:16]  ¹² tn Grk “in his name”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:16]  ¹³ sn Here is another example of appeal to the person by mentioning the name. See the note on the word name in 3:6.

[3:16]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “see and know, and the faith.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation and καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated.

[3:16]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:16]  ¹⁶ tn Or “in full view.”

[3:17]  ¹⁷ sn The ignorance Peter mentions here does not excuse them from culpability. It was simply a way to say “you did not realize the great mistake you made.”

[3:18]  ¹⁸ sn God foretold. Peter’s topic is the working out of God’s plan and promise through events the scriptures also note.

[3:18]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).

[3:18]  ²⁰ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[3:20]  ²¹ tn Or “relief.”

[3:20]  ²² tn The words “so that…Lord” are traditionally placed in v. 19 by most English translations, but in the present translation the verse division follows the standard critical editions of the Greek text (NA²⁷, UBS⁴).

[3:20]  ²³ tn Or “the Christ”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[3:20]  ²⁴ tn Or “designated in advance.”

[3:21]  ²⁵ tn Grk “whom,” continuing the sentence from v. 20.

[3:21]  ²⁶ sn The term must used here (δεῖ, dei, “it is necessary”) is a key Lukan term to point to the plan of God and what must occur.

[3:21]  ²⁷ tn Grk “until the times of the restoration of all things.” Because of the awkward English style of the extended genitive construction, and because the following relative clause has as its referent the “time of restoration” rather than “all things,” the phrase was translated “until the time all things are restored.”

[3:21]  ²⁸ tn Or “spoke.”

[3:21]  ²⁹ tn Or “from all ages past.”

[3:22]  ³⁰ tn Grk “hear,” but the idea of “hear and obey” or simply “obey” is frequently contained in the Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw; see L&N 36.14) and the following context (v. 23) makes it clear that failure to “obey” the words of this “prophet like Moses” will result in complete destruction.

[3:22]  ³¹ sn A quotation from Deut 18:15. By quoting Deut 18:15 Peter declared that Jesus was the eschatological “prophet like [Moses]” mentioned in that passage, who reveals the plan of God and the way of God.

[3:23]  ³² tn Grk “every soul” (here “soul” is an idiom for the whole person).

[3:23]  ³³ tn Or “will be completely destroyed.” In Acts 3:23 the verb ἐξολεθρεύω (exoleqreuw) is translated “destroy and remove” by L&N 20.35.

[3:23]  ³⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 18:19, also Lev 23:29. The OT context of Lev 23:29 discusses what happened when one failed to honor atonement. One ignored the required sacrifice of God at one’s peril.

[3:24]  ³⁵ tn Or “proclaimed.”

[3:25]  ³⁶ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[3:25]  ³⁷ tn Or “in your offspring”; Grk “in your seed.”

[3:25]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ sn A quotation from Gen 22:18.

[3:26]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “God raising up his servant, sent him.” The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Some translations (e.g., NIV, NRSV) render this participle as temporal (“when God raised up his servant”).

[3:26]  ⁴¹ sn The picture of turning is again seen as the appropriate response to the message. See v. 19 above. In v. 19 it was “turning to,” here it is “turning away from.” The direction of the two metaphors is important.

[3:26]  ⁴² tn For the translation of plural πονηρία (ponhria) as “iniquities,” see G. Harder, TDNT 6:565. The plural is important, since for Luke turning to Jesus means turning away from sins, not just the sin of rejecting Jesus.