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 9:39

9:39 So Peter got up and went with them, and ⁸  when he arrived ⁹  they brought him to the upper room. All ¹⁰  the widows stood beside him, crying and showing him ¹¹  the tunics ¹²  and other clothing ¹³  Dorcas used to make ¹⁴  while she was with them.

Acts 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ¹⁵  and Stoic ¹⁶  philosophers were conversing ¹⁷  with him, and some were asking, ¹⁸  “What does this foolish babbler ¹⁹  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ²⁰  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ²¹ 

Acts 28:23

28:23 They set ²²  a day to meet with him, ²³  and they came to him where he was staying ²⁴  in even greater numbers. ²⁵  From morning until evening he explained things ²⁶  to them, ²⁷  testifying ²⁸  about the kingdom of God ²⁹  and trying to convince ³⁰  them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets.

[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.

[9:39]  ⁸ tn Grk “who.” The relative clause makes for awkward English style here, so the following clause was made coordinate with the conjunction “and” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun.

[9:39]  ⁹ tn The participle παραγενόμενον (paragenomenon) is taken temporally.

[9:39]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and all.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[9:39]  ¹¹ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[9:39]  ¹² tn Or “shirts” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

[9:39]  ¹³ tn Grk “and garments,” referring here to other types of clothing besides the tunics just mentioned.

[9:39]  ¹⁴ tn The verb ἐποίει (epoiei) has been translated as a customary imperfect.

[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.

[28:23]  ²² tn Grk “Having set.” The participle ταξάμενοι (taxamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[28:23]  ²³ tn Grk “Having set a day with him”; the words “to meet” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[28:23]  ²⁴ tn Or “came to him in his rented quarters.”

[28:23]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 848 s.v. πολύς 1.b.β.ב states, “(even) more πλείονες in even greater numbers Ac 28:23.”

[28:23]  ²⁶ tn The word “things” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[28:23]  ²⁷ tn Grk “to whom he explained.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced by the pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun at this point in the translation.

[28:23]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 1 has “to make a solemn declaration about the truth of someth. testify of, bear witness to (orig. under oath)…God’s kingdom 28:23.”

[28:23]  ²⁹ sn Testifying about the kingdom of God. The topic is important. Paul’s preaching was about the rule of God and his promise in Jesus. Paul’s text was the Jewish scriptures.

[28:23]  ³⁰ tn Or “persuade.”