Acts 3:3-6

3:3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple courts, ¹  he asked them for money. ²  3:4 Peter looked directly ³  at him (as did John) and said, “Look at us!” 3:5 So the lame man ⁴  paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. 3:6 But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, ⁵  but what I do have I give you. In the name ⁶  of Jesus Christ ⁷  the Nazarene, stand up and ⁸  walk!”

[3:3]  ¹ tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[3:3]  ² tn Grk “alms.” See the note on the word “money” in the previous verse.

[3:4]  ³ tn Grk “Peter, looking directly at him, as did John, said.” The participle ἀτενίσας (atenisas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[3:5]  ⁴ tn Grk “So he”; the referent (the lame man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Or “I have no money.” L&N 6.69 classifies the expression ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον (argurion kai crusion) as an idiom that is a generic expression for currency, thus “money.”

[3:6]  ⁶ sn In the name. Note the authority in the name of Jesus the Messiah. His presence and power are at work for the man. The reference to “the name” is not like a magical incantation, but is designed to indicate the agent who performs the healing. The theme is quite frequent in Acts (2:38 plus 21 other times).

[3:6]  ⁷ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[3:6]  ⁸ tc The words “stand up and” (ἔγειρε καί, egeire kai) are not in a few mss (א B D sa), but are included in A C E Ψ 095 33 1739 Ï lat sy mae bo. The external testimony is thus fairly evenly divided, with few but important representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texttypes supporting the shorter reading. Internally, the words look like a standard scribal emendation, and may have been motivated by other healing passages where Jesus gave a similar double command (cf. Matt 9:5; Mark 2:9, [11]; Luke 5:23; [6:8]; John 5:8). On the other hand, there is some motivation for deleting ἔγειρε καί here, namely, unlike Jesus’ healing miracles, Peter raises (ἤγειρεν, hgeiren) the man to his feet (v. 7) rather than the man rising on his own. In light of the scribal tendency to harmonize, especially in immediate context, the longer reading is slightly preferred.