Acts 4:25-29

4:25 who said by the Holy Spirit through ¹  your servant David our forefather, ² 

‘Why do the nations ³  rage, ⁴ 

and the peoples plot foolish ⁵  things?

4:26 The kings of the earth stood together, ⁶ 

and the rulers assembled together,

against the Lord and against his ⁷  Christ.’ ⁸ 

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ⁹  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ¹⁰  4:28 to do as much as your power ¹¹  and your plan ¹²  had decided beforehand ¹³  would happen. 4:29 And now, Lord, pay attention to ¹⁴  their threats, and grant ¹⁵  to your servants ¹⁶  to speak your message ¹⁷  with great courage, ¹⁸ 

[4:25]  ¹ tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).

[4:25]  ² tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”

[4:25]  ³ tn Or “Gentiles.”

[4:25]  ⁴ sn The Greek word translated rage includes not only anger but opposition, both verbal and nonverbal. See L&N 88.185.

[4:25]  ⁵ tn Or “futile”; traditionally, “vain.”

[4:26]  ⁶ tn Traditionally, “The kings of the earth took their stand.”

[4:26]  ⁷ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[4:26]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 2:1-2.

[4:27]  ⁹ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ¹⁰ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”

[4:28]  ¹¹ tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

[4:28]  ¹² tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

[4:28]  ¹³ tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.

[4:29]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Lord, take notice of.”

[4:29]  ¹⁵ sn Grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage. The request is not for a stop to persecution or revenge on the opponents, but for boldness (great courage) to carry out the mission of proclaiming the message of what God is doing through Jesus.

[4:29]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “slaves.” See the note on the word “servants” in 2:18.

[4:29]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “word.”

[4:29]  ¹⁸ tn Or “with all boldness.”