Acts 4:32

Conditions Among the Early Believers

4:32 The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, ¹  and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common. ² 

Acts 6:1

The Appointment of the First Seven Deacons

6:1 Now in those ³  days, when the disciples were growing in number, ⁴  a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews ⁵  against the native Hebraic Jews, ⁶  because their widows ⁷  were being overlooked ⁸  in the daily distribution of food. ⁹ 

Acts 6:7

6:7 The word of God continued to spread, ¹⁰  the number of disciples in Jerusalem ¹¹  increased greatly, and a large group ¹²  of priests became obedient to the faith.

Acts 13:43

13:43 When the meeting of the synagogue ¹³  had broken up, ¹⁴  many of the Jews and God-fearing proselytes ¹⁵  followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and were persuading ¹⁶  them ¹⁷  to continue ¹⁸  in the grace of God.

Acts 17:4

17:4 Some of them were persuaded ¹⁹  and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large group ²⁰  of God-fearing Greeks ²¹  and quite a few ²²  prominent women.

Acts 20:35

20:35 By all these things, ²³  I have shown you that by working in this way we must help ²⁴  the weak, ²⁵  and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” ²⁶ 

Acts 23:9

23:9 There was a great commotion, ²⁷  and some experts in the law ²⁸  from the party of the Pharisees stood up ²⁹  and protested strongly, ³⁰  “We find nothing wrong ³¹  with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

Acts 26:10

26:10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received ³²  from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote ³³  against them when they were sentenced to death. ³⁴ 

[4:32]  ¹ tn Grk “soul.”

[4:32]  ² tn Grk “but all things were to them in common.”

[6:1]  ³ tn Grk “these.” The translation uses “those” for stylistic reasons.

[6:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “were multiplying.”

[6:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “the Hellenists,” but this descriptive term is largely unknown to the modern English reader. The translation “Greek-speaking Jews” attempts to convey something of who these were, but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of adoption of Greek culture as well.

[6:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “against the Hebrews,” but as with “Hellenists” this needs further explanation for the modern reader.

[6:1]  ⁷ sn The care of widows is a major biblical theme: Deut 10:18; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12-13; 27:19; Isa 1:17-23; Jer 7:6; Mal 3:5.

[6:1]  ⁸ tn Or “neglected.”

[6:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “in the daily serving.”

[6:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “kept on spreading”; the verb has been translated as a progressive imperfect.

[6:7]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:7]  ⁷ tn Grk “a great multitude.”

[13:43]  ⁷ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[13:43]  ⁸ tn BDAG 607 s.v. λύω 3 has “λυθείσης τ. συναγωγῆς when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up Ac 13:43.”

[13:43]  ⁹ tn Normally the phrase σεβόμενοι τὸν θεόν (sebomenoi ton qeon) refers to Gentiles (“God-fearers”) who believed in God, attended the synagogue, and followed the Mosaic law to some extent, but stopped short of undergoing circumcision. BDAG 918 s.v. σέβω 1.b lists in this category references in Acts 16:14; 18:7; with σεβόμενοι alone, Acts 13:50; 17:4, 17; the phrase is also found in Josephus, Ant. 14.7.2 (14.110). Unique to this particular verse is the combination σεβόμενοι προσηλύτων (sebomenoi proshlutwn). Later rabbinic discussion suggests that to be regarded as a proper proselyte, a Gentile male had to submit to circumcision. If that is the case here, these Gentiles in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch should be regarded as full proselytes who had converted completely to Judaism and undergone circumcision. It is probably more likely, however, that προσηλύτων is used here in a somewhat looser sense (note the use of σεβομένας [sebomena"] alone to refer to women in Acts 13:50) and that these Gentiles were still in the category commonly called “God-fearers” without being full, technical proselytes to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Regardless, the point is that many Gentiles, as well as Jews, came to faith.

[13:43]  ¹⁰ tn This is the meaning given for ἔπειθον (epeiqon) in this verse by BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.b.

[13:43]  ¹¹ tn Grk “who, as they were speaking with them, were persuading them.”

[13:43]  ¹² tn The verb προμένειν (promenein) is similar in force to the use of μένω (menw, “to reside/remain”) in the Gospel and Epistles of John.

[17:4]  ⁹ tn Or “convinced.”

[17:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “a large crowd.”

[17:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “of devout Greeks,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Luke frequently mentions such people (Acts 13:43, 50; 16:14; 17:17; 18:7).

[17:4]  ¹² tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).

[20:35]  ¹¹ sn The expression By all these things means “In everything I did.”

[20:35]  ¹² tn Or “must assist.”

[20:35]  ¹³ tn Or “the sick.” See Eph 4:28.

[20:35]  ¹⁴ sn The saying is similar to Matt 10:8. Service and generosity should be abundant. Interestingly, these exact words are not found in the gospels. Paul must have known of this saying from some other source.

[23:9]  ¹³ tn Or “clamor” (cf. BDAG 565 s.v. κραυγή 1.a, which has “there arose a loud outcry” here, and Exod 12:30).

[23:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “and some scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

[23:9]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “standing up.” The participle ἀναστάντες (anastante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:9]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “protested strongly, saying.” L&N 39.27 has “διαμάχομαι: to fight or contend with, involving severity and thoroughness – ‘to protest strongly, to contend with.’…‘some scribes from the party of the Pharisees protested strongly’ Ac 23:9.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

[23:9]  ¹⁷ sn “We find nothing wrong with this man.” Here is another declaration of innocence. These leaders recognized the possibility that Paul might have the right to make his claim.

[26:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “by receiving authority.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been taken instrumentally.

[26:10]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “cast down a pebble against them.” L&N 30.103 states, “(an idiom, Grk ‘to bring a pebble against someone,’ a reference to a white or black pebble used in voting for or against someone) to make known one’s choice against someone – ‘to vote against.’ …‘when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them’ Ac 26:10.”

[26:10]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “when they were being executed”; but the context supports the sentencing rather than the execution itself (cf. L&N 30.103).