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 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ⁸  and Stoic ⁹  philosophers were conversing ¹⁰  with him, and some were asking, ¹¹  “What does this foolish babbler ¹²  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ¹³  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ¹⁴ 

Acts 28:17

Paul Addresses the Jewish Community in Rome

28:17 After three days ¹⁵  Paul ¹⁶  called the local Jewish leaders ¹⁷  together. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, ¹⁸  although I had done ¹⁹  nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, ²⁰  from Jerusalem ²¹  I was handed over as a prisoner to the Romans. ²² 

[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.

[17:18]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ¹¹ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[28:17]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “It happened that after three days.” 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.

[28:17]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:17]  ¹⁷ tn L&N 33.309 has “‘after three days, he called the local Jewish leaders together’ Ac 28:17.”

[28:17]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[28:17]  ¹⁹ tn The participle ποιήσας (poihsas) has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[28:17]  ²⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[28:17]  ²¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[28:17]  ²² tn Grk “into the hands of the Romans,” but this is redundant when παρεδόθην (paredoqhn) has been translated “handed over.”