Acts 4:28

4:28 to do as much as your power ¹  and your plan ²  had decided beforehand ³  would happen.

Acts 2:23

2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed ⁴  by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. ⁵ 

Acts 27:42

27:42 Now the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners ⁶  so that none of them would escape by swimming away. ⁷ 

[4:28]  ¹ tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

[4:28]  ² tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

[4:28]  ³ 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.

[2:23]  ⁴ tn Or “you killed.”

[2:23]  ⁵ tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomo") refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.

[27:42]  ⁷ sn The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners. The issue here was not cruelty, but that the soldiers would be legally responsible if any prisoners escaped and would suffer punishment themselves. So they were planning to do this as an act of self-preservation. See Acts 16:27 for a similar incident.

[27:42]  ⁸ tn The participle ἐκκολυμβήσας (ekkolumbhsa") has been taken instrumentally.