Acts 4:5

4:5 On the next day, ¹  their rulers, elders, and experts in the law ²  came together ³  in Jerusalem. ⁴ 

Acts 5:21

5:21 When they heard this, they entered the temple courts ⁵  at daybreak and began teaching. ⁶ 

Now when the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin ⁷  – that is, the whole high council ⁸  of the Israelites ⁹  – and sent to the jail to have the apostles ¹⁰  brought before them. ¹¹ 

Luke 22:66

22:66 When day came, the council of the elders of the people gathered together, both the chief priests and the experts in the law. ¹²  Then ¹³  they led Jesus ¹⁴  away to their council ¹⁵ 

[4:5]  ¹ tn Grk “It happened that on the next day.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[4:5]  ² tn Or “and scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[4:5]  ³ tn Or “law assembled,” “law met together.”

[4:5]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:21]  ⁵ tn Grk “the temple.” See the note on the same phrase in the preceding verse.

[5:21]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verb ἐδίδασκον (edidaskon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[5:21]  ⁷ tn Or “the council” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[5:21]  ⁸ tn A hendiadys (two different terms referring to a single thing) is likely here (a reference to a single legislative body rather than two separate ones) because the term γερουσίαν (gerousian) is used in both 1 Macc 12:6 and Josephus, Ant. 13.5.8 (13.166) to refer to the Sanhedrin.

[5:21]  ⁹ tn Grk “sons of Israel.”

[5:21]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “have them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ¹¹ tn The words “before them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[22:66]  ¹² tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[22:66]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:66]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:66]  ¹⁵ sn Their council is probably a reference to the Jewish Sanhedrin, the council of seventy leaders.