Acts 5:21

5:21 When they heard this, they entered the temple courts ¹  at daybreak and began teaching. ² 

Now when the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin ³  – that is, the whole high council ⁴  of the Israelites ⁵  – and sent to the jail to have the apostles ⁶  brought before them. ⁷ 

Acts 10:22

10:22 They said, “Cornelius the centurion, ⁸  a righteous ⁹  and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, ¹⁰  was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message ¹¹  from you.”

Acts 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ¹²  and Stoic ¹³  philosophers were conversing ¹⁴  with him, and some were asking, ¹⁵  “What does this foolish babbler ¹⁶  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ¹⁷  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ¹⁸ 

Acts 21:11

21:11 He came ¹⁹  to us, took ²⁰  Paul’s belt, ²¹  tied ²²  his own hands and feet with it, ²³  and said, “The Holy Spirit says this: ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man whose belt this is, and will hand him over ²⁴  to the Gentiles.’”

Acts 25:24

25:24 Then Festus ²⁵  said, “King Agrippa, ²⁶  and all you who are present here with us, you see this man about whom the entire Jewish populace ²⁷  petitioned ²⁸  me both in Jerusalem ²⁹  and here, ³⁰  shouting loudly ³¹  that he ought not to live any longer.

[5:21]  ¹ tn Grk “the temple.” See the note on the same phrase in the preceding verse.

[5:21]  ² tn The imperfect verb ἐδίδασκον (edidaskon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[5:21]  ³ tn Or “the council” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[5:21]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “sons of Israel.”

[5:21]  ⁶ tn Grk “have them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ⁷ tn The words “before them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[10:22]  ⁸ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[10:22]  ⁹ tn Or “just.”

[10:22]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase τοῦ ἔθνους τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (tou eqnou" twn Ioudaiwn) is virtually a technical term for the Jewish nation (1 Macc 10:25; 11:30, 33; Josephus, Ant. 14.10.22 [14.248]). “All the Jewish people,” while another possible translation of the Greek phrase, does not convey the technical sense of a reference to the nation in English.

[10:22]  ¹¹ tn Grk “hear words.”

[17:18]  ¹⁵ sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

[17:18]  ¹⁶ sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

[17:18]  ¹⁷ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ¹⁹ tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

[17:18]  ²⁰ tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

[17:18]  ²¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[21:11]  ²² tn Grk “And coming.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here. The participle ἐλθών (elqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:11]  ²³ tn Grk “and taking.” This 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. The participle ἄρας (aras) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:11]  ²⁴ sn The belt was a band or sash used to keep money as well as to gird up the tunic (BDAG 431 s.v. ζώνη).

[21:11]  ²⁵ tn The participle δήσας (dhsas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:11]  ²⁶ tn The words “with it” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[21:11]  ²⁷ tn Grk “and will deliver him over into the hands of” (a Semitic idiom).

[25:24]  ²⁹ sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:24]  ³⁰ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[25:24]  ³¹ tn Probably best understood as rhetorical hyperbole. BDAG 825 s.v. πλῆθος 2.b.γ states, “people, populace, population…τὸ πλῆθος the populace…ἅπαν τὸ πλ. τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων Ac 25:24.” However, the actions of the leadership are seen by Luke as representing the actions of the entire nation, so the remark is not inaccurate.

[25:24]  ³² tn Or “appealed to” (BDAG 341 s.v. ἐντυγχάνω 1.a).

[25:24]  ³³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[25:24]  ³⁴ sn Here means “here in Caesarea.”

[25:24]  ³⁵ tn Or “screaming.”