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 13:46

13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, ⁸  “It was necessary to speak the word of God ⁹  to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy ¹⁰  of eternal life, we ¹¹  are turning to the Gentiles. ¹² 

Acts 14:15

14:15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures ¹³  just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn ¹⁴  from these worthless ¹⁵  things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, ¹⁶  the sea, and everything that is in them.

Acts 15:7

15:7 After there had been much debate, ¹⁷  Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that some time ago ¹⁸  God chose ¹⁹  me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message ²⁰  of the gospel ²¹  and believe. ²² 

Acts 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ²³  and Stoic ²⁴  philosophers were conversing ²⁵  with him, and some were asking, ²⁶  “What does this foolish babbler ²⁷  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ²⁸  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ²⁹ 

Acts 21:11

21:11 He came ³⁰  to us, took ³¹  Paul’s belt, ³²  tied ³³  his own hands and feet with it, ³⁴  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 ³⁵  to the Gentiles.’”

Acts 21:28

21:28 shouting, “Men of Israel, ³⁶  help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, ³⁷  and this sanctuary! ³⁸  Furthermore ³⁹  he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple ⁴⁰  and made this holy place ritually unclean!” ⁴¹ 

[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.

[13:46]  ⁸ tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.

[13:46]  ⁹ tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.

[13:46]  ¹⁰ tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”

[13:46]  ¹¹ tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.

[13:46]  ¹² sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.

[14:15]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “with the same kinds of feelings,” L&N 25.32. BDAG 706 s.v. ὁμοιοπαθής translates the phrase “with the same nature τινί as someone.” In the immediate context, the contrast is between human and divine nature, and the point is that Paul and Barnabas are mere mortals, not gods.

[14:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “in order that you should turn,” with ἐπιστρέφειν (epistrefein) as an infinitive of purpose, but this is somewhat awkward contemporary English. To translate the infinitive construction “proclaim the good news, that you should turn,” which is much smoother English, could give the impression that the infinitive clause is actually the content of the good news, which it is not. The somewhat less formal “to get you to turn” would work, but might convey to some readers manipulativeness on the part of the apostles. Thus “proclaim the good news, so that you should turn,” is used, to convey that the purpose of the proclamation of good news is the response by the hearers. The emphasis here is like 1 Thess 1:9-10.

[14:15]  ¹⁷ tn Or “useless,” “futile.” The reference is to idols and idolatry, worshiping the creation over the Creator (Rom 1:18-32). See also 1 Kgs 16:2, 13, 26; 2 Kgs 17:15; Jer 2:5; 8:19; 3 Macc 6:11.

[14:15]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and the earth, and the sea,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before “the earth” and “the sea” since contemporary English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[15:7]  ²² tn Or “discussion.” This term is repeated from v. 2.

[15:7]  ²³ tn Or “long ago” (an idiom, literally “from ancient days”). According to L&N 67.26, “this reference to Peter having been chosen by God sometime before to bring the gospel to the Gentiles can hardly be regarded as a reference to ancient times, though some persons understand this to mean that God’s decision was made at the beginning of time. The usage of ἀφ᾿ ἡμερῶν ἀρχαίων is probably designed to emphasize the established nature of God’s decision for Peter to take the gospel to the Gentiles beginning with the centurion Cornelius. The fact that this was relatively early in the development of the church may also serve to explain the use of the idiom.”

[15:7]  ²⁴ sn God chose. The theme of God’s sovereign choice is an important point, because 1st century Jews believed Israel’s unique position and customs were a reflection of God’s choice.

[15:7]  ²⁵ tn Or “word.”

[15:7]  ²⁶ tn Or “of the good news.”

[15:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “God chose among you from my mouth the Gentiles to hear the message of the gospel and to believe.” The sense of this sentence in Greek is difficult to render in English. The Greek verb ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai, “choose”) normally takes a person or thing as a direct object; in this verse the verb has neither clearly stated. The translation understands the phrase “from my mouth,” referring to Peter, as a description of both who God chose and the task to be done. This coupled with the following statement about Gentiles hearing the message of the gospel leads to the more dynamic rendering in the translation.

[17:18]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ³² tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[21:11]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ tn The participle δήσας (dhsas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:11]  ⁴⁰ tn The words “with it” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[21:11]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “and will deliver him over into the hands of” (a Semitic idiom).

[21:28]  ⁴³ tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage since “the whole crowd” is mentioned in v. 27, although it can also be argued that these remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

[21:28]  ⁴⁴ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[21:28]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “this place.”

[21:28]  ⁴⁶ tn BDAG 400 s.v. ἔτι 2.b has “ἔ. δὲ καί furthermore…al. ἔ. τε καί…Lk 14:26; Ac 21:28.” This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek, but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[21:28]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “into the temple.” The specific reference is to the Court of the Sons of Israel (see the note following the term “unclean” at the end of this verse). To avoid giving the modern reader the impression that they entered the temple building itself, the phrase “the inner courts of the temple” has been used in the translation.

[21:28]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “and has defiled this holy place.”