Acts 4:1

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ¹  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ²  of the temple guard ³  and the Sadducees ⁴  came up ⁵  to them,

Acts 5:31

5:31 God exalted him ⁶  to his right hand as Leader ⁷  and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ⁸ 

Acts 6:12

6:12 They incited the people, the ⁹  elders, and the experts in the law; ¹⁰  then they approached Stephen, ¹¹  seized him, and brought him before the council. ¹² 

Acts 12:23

12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord ¹³  struck ¹⁴  Herod ¹⁵  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. ¹⁶ 

Acts 13:7-8

13:7 who was with the proconsul ¹⁷  Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. The proconsul ¹⁸  summoned ¹⁹  Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear ²⁰  the word of God. 13:8 But the magician Elymas ²¹  (for that is the way his name is translated) ²²  opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul ²³  away from the faith.

Acts 14:23

14:23 When they had appointed elders ²⁴  for them in the various churches, ²⁵  with prayer and fasting ²⁶  they entrusted them to the protection ²⁷  of the Lord in whom they had believed.

Acts 15:4

15:4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received ²⁸  by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported ²⁹  all the things God had done with them. ³⁰ 

Acts 16:4

16:4 As they went through the towns, ³¹  they passed on ³²  the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ³³  for the Gentile believers ³⁴  to obey. ³⁵ 

Acts 16:22

16:22 The crowd joined the attack ³⁶  against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes ³⁷  off Paul and Silas ³⁸  and ordered them to be beaten with rods. ³⁹ 

Acts 19:31

19:31 Even some of the provincial authorities ⁴⁰  who were his friends sent ⁴¹  a message ⁴²  to him, urging him not to venture ⁴³  into the theater.

Acts 23:14

23:14 They ⁴⁴  went ⁴⁵  to the chief priests ⁴⁶  and the elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath ⁴⁷  not to partake ⁴⁸  of anything until we have killed Paul.

Acts 24:1

The Accusations Against Paul

24:1 After five days the high priest Ananias ⁴⁹  came down with some elders and an attorney ⁵⁰  named ⁵¹  Tertullus, and they ⁵²  brought formal charges ⁵³  against Paul to the governor.

Acts 25:15

25:15 When I was in Jerusalem, ⁵⁴  the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed ⁵⁵  me about him, ⁵⁶  asking for a sentence of condemnation ⁵⁷  against him.

[4:1]  ¹ tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:1]  ² tn Or “captain.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

[4:1]  ⁴ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).

[5:31]  ⁶ tn Grk “This one God exalted” (emphatic).

[5:31]  ⁷ tn Or “Founder” (of a movement).

[5:31]  ⁸ tn Or “to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.”

[6:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and the,” but 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.

[6:12]  ¹² tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

[6:12]  ¹³ tn Grk “approaching, they seized him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:12]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). Stephen suffers just as Peter and John did.

[12:23]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[12:23]  ¹⁷ sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

[12:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:23]  ¹⁹ sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).

[13:7]  ²¹ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

[13:7]  ²² tn Grk “This one”; the referent (the proconsul) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:7]  ²³ tn Grk “summoning Barnabas and Saul, wanted to hear.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[13:7]  ²⁴ sn The proconsul…wanted to hear the word of God. This description of Sergius Paulus portrays him as a sensitive, secular Gentile leader.

[13:8]  ²⁶ tn On the debate over what the name “Elymas” means, see BDAG 320 s.v. ᾿Ελύμας. The magician’s behavior is more directly opposed to the faith than Simon Magus’ was.

[13:8]  ²⁷ sn A parenthetical note by the author.

[13:8]  ²⁸ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

[14:23]  ³¹ sn Appointed elders. See Acts 20:17.

[14:23]  ³² tn The preposition κατά (kata) is used here in a distributive sense; see BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d.

[14:23]  ³³ tn Literally with a finite verb (προσευξάμενοι, proseuxamenoi) rather than a noun, “praying with fasting,” but the combination “prayer and fasting” is so familiar in English that it is preferable to use it here.

[14:23]  ³⁴ tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 3.b has “entrust someone to the care or protection of someone” for this phrase. The reference to persecution or suffering in the context (v. 22) suggests “protection” is a better translation here. This looks at God’s ultimate care for the church.

[15:4]  ³⁶ tn BDAG 761 s.v. παραδέχομαι 2 has “receive, accept” for the meaning here.

[15:4]  ³⁷ tn Or “announced.”

[15:4]  ³⁸ tn “They reported all the things God had done with them” – an identical phrase occurs in Acts 14:27. God is always the agent.

[16:4]  ⁴¹ tn Or “cities.”

[16:4]  ⁴² tn BDAG 762-63 s.v. παραδίδωμι 3 has “they handed down to them the decisions to observe Ac 16:4.”

[16:4]  ⁴³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[16:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “for them”; the referent (Gentile believers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “observe” or “follow.”

[16:22]  ⁴⁶ tn L&N 39.50 has “the crowd joined the attack against them” for συνεπέστη (sunepesth) in this verse.

[16:22]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “tearing the clothes off them, the magistrates ordered.” The participle περιρήξαντες (perirhxante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Although it may be possible to understand the aorist active participle περιρήξαντες in a causative sense (“the magistrates caused the clothes to be torn off Paul and Silas”) in the mob scene that was taking place, it is also possible that the magistrates themselves actively participated. This act was done to prepare them for a public flogging (2 Cor 11:25; 1 Thess 2:2).

[16:22]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “off them”; the referents (Paul and Silas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:22]  ⁴⁹ tn The infinitive ῥαβδίζειν (rJabdizein) means “to beat with rods or sticks” (as opposed to fists or clubs, BDAG 902 s.v. ῥαβδίζω).

[19:31]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “Asiarchs” (high-ranking officials of the province of Asia).

[19:31]  ⁵² tn Grk “sending”; the participle πέμψαντες (pemyante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:31]  ⁵³ tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[19:31]  ⁵⁴ tn BDAG 242-43 s.v. δίδωμι 11 has “to cause (oneself) to go, go, venture somewhere (cp. our older ‘betake oneself’)…Ac 19:31.” The desire of these sympathetic authorities was surely to protect Paul’s life. The detail indicates how dangerous things had become.

[23:14]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was translated by the third person plural pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[23:14]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “going.” The participle προσελθόντες (proselqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:14]  ⁵⁸ sn They went to the chief priests. The fact that the high priest knew of this plot and did nothing shows the Jewish leadership would even become accomplices to murder to stop Paul. They would not allow Roman justice to take its course. Paul’s charge in v. 3 of superficially following the law is thus shown to be true.

[23:14]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “bound ourselves under a curse.” BDAG 63 s.v. ἀναθεματίζω 1 has “trans. put under a curse τινά someone…pleonastically ἀναθέματι ἀ. ἑαυτόν Ac 23:14…ἀ. ἑαυτόν vss. 12, 21, 13 v.l.” The pleonastic use ἀναθέματι ἀνεθεματίσαμεν (literally “we have cursed ourselves with a curse”) probably serves as an intensifier following Semitic usage, and is represented in the translation by the word “solemn.” On such oaths see m. Nedarim 3:1, 3.

[23:14]  ⁶⁰ tn This included both food and drink (γεύομαι [geuomai] is used of water turned to wine in John 2:9).

[24:1]  ⁶¹ sn Ananias was in office from a.d. 47-59.

[24:1]  ⁶² tn The term refers to a professional advocate (BDAG 905 s.v. ῥήτωρ).

[24:1]  ⁶³ tn Grk “an attorney, a certain Tertullus.”

[24:1]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “who” (plural). Because in English the relative pronoun “who” could be understood to refer only to the attorney Tertullus and not to the entire group, it has been replaced with the third person plural pronoun “they.” “And” has been supplied to provide the connection to the preceding clause.

[24:1]  ⁶⁵ tn BDAG 326 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 3 has “ἐ. τινὶ κατά τινος bring formal charges against someone…Ac 24:1; 25:2.”

[25:15]  ⁶⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[25:15]  ⁶⁷ tn BDAG 326 s.v. ἐμφανίζω 3 has “to convey a formal report about a judicial matter, present evidence, bring charges…ἐ. περί τινος concerning someone 25:15.”

[25:15]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “about whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced with a personal pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 15 (where the phrase περὶ οὗ [peri Jou] occurs in the Greek text).

[25:15]  ⁶⁹ tn BDAG 516 s.v. καταδίκη states, “condemnation, sentence of condemnation, conviction, guilty verdict…αἰτεῖσθαι κατά τινος κ. ask for a conviction of someone Ac 25:15.”