Acts 5:29

5:29 But Peter and the apostles replied, ¹  “We must obey ²  God rather than people. ³ 

Acts 7:46

7:46 He ⁴  found favor ⁵  with ⁶  God and asked that he could ⁷  find a dwelling place ⁸  for the house ⁹  of Jacob.

Acts 16:34

16:34 The jailer ¹⁰  brought them into his house and set food ¹¹  before them, and he rejoiced greatly ¹²  that he had come to believe ¹³  in God, together with his entire household. ¹⁴ 

Acts 27:25

27:25 Therefore keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God ¹⁵  that it will be just as I have been told.

Acts 27:35

27:35 After he said this, Paul ¹⁶  took bread ¹⁷  and gave thanks to God in front of them all, ¹⁸  broke ¹⁹  it, and began to eat.

Acts 7:20

7:20 At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful ²⁰  to God. For ²¹  three months he was brought up in his father’s house,

Acts 12:23

12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord ²²  struck ²³  Herod ²⁴  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. ²⁵ 

Acts 23:1

23:1 Paul looked directly ²⁶  at the council ²⁷  and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with a clear conscience ²⁸  before God to this day.”

Acts 5:4

5:4 Before it was sold, ²⁹  did it not ³⁰  belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money ³¹  not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? ³²  You have not lied to people ³³  but to God!”

Acts 17:23

17:23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, ³⁴  I even found an altar with this inscription: ³⁵  ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, ³⁶  this I proclaim to you.

Acts 24:14

24:14 But I confess this to you, that I worship ³⁷  the God of our ancestors ³⁸  according to the Way (which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law ³⁹  and that is written in the prophets.

Acts 26:29

26:29 Paul replied, “I pray to God that whether in a short or a long time ⁴⁰  not only you but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains.” ⁴¹ 

Acts 28:15

28:15 The brothers from there, ⁴²  when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius ⁴³  and Three Taverns ⁴⁴  to meet us. When he saw them, ⁴⁵  Paul thanked God and took courage.

[5:29]  ¹ tn Grk “apostles answered and said.”

[5:29]  ² sn Obey. See 4:19. This response has Jewish roots (Dan 3:16-18; 2 Macc 7:2; Josephus, Ant. 17.6.3 [17.159].

[5:29]  ³ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[7:46]  ⁴ tn Grk “David, who” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.

[7:46]  ⁵ tn Or “grace.”

[7:46]  ⁶ tn Grk “before,” “in the presence of.”

[7:46]  ⁷ tn The words “that he could” are not in the Greek text, but are implied as the (understood) subject of the infinitive εὑρεῖν (Jeurein). This understands David’s request as asking that he might find the dwelling place. The other possibility would be to supply “that God” as the subject of the infinitive: “and asked that God find a dwelling place.” Unfortunately this problem is complicated by the extremely difficult problem with the Greek text in the following phrase (“house of Jacob” vs. “God of Jacob”).

[7:46]  ⁸ tn On this term see BDAG 929 s.v. σκήνωμα a (Ps 132:5).

[7:46]  ⁹ tc Some mss read θεῷ (qew, “God”) here, a variant much easier to understand in the context. The reading “God” is supported by א² A C E Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat sy co. The more difficult οἴκῳ (oikw, “house”) is supported by Ì⁷⁴ א* B D H 049 pc. Thus the second reading is preferred both externally because of better ms evidence and internally because it is hard to see how a copyist finding the reading “God” would change it to “house,” while it is easy to see how (given the LXX of Ps 132:5) a copyist might assimilate the reading and change “house” to “God.” However, some scholars think the reading “house” is so difficult as to be unacceptable. Others (like Lachmann and Hort) resorted to conjectural emendation at this point. Others (Ropes) sought an answer in an underlying Aramaic expression. Not everyone thinks the reading “house” is too difficult to be accepted as original (see Lake and Cadbury). A. F. J. Klijn, “Stephen’s Speech – Acts vii.2-53,” NTS 4 (1957): 25-31, compared the idea of a “house within the house of Israel” with the Manual of Discipline from Qumran, a possible parallel that seems to support the reading “house” as authentic. (For the more detailed discussion from which this note was derived, see TCGNT 308-9.)

[16:34]  ⁷ tn Grk “He”; the referent (the jailer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:34]  ⁸ tn Grk “placed [food] on the table” (a figurative expression). Since the actual word for food is not specified, it would also be possible to translate “set a meal before them,” but since this is taking place in the middle of the night, the preparations necessary for a full meal would probably not have been made. More likely Paul and Silas were given whatever was on hand that needed little or no preparation.

[16:34]  ⁹ tn Or “he was overjoyed.”

[16:34]  ¹⁰ tn The translation “come to believe” reflects more of the resultative nuance of the perfect tense here.

[16:34]  ¹¹ tn The phrase “together with his entire household” is placed at the end of the English sentence so that it refers to both the rejoicing and the belief. A formal equivalence translation would have “and he rejoiced greatly with his entire household that he had come to believe in God,” but the reference to the entire household being baptized in v. 33 presumes that all in the household believed.

[27:25]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 817 s.v. πιστεύω 1.c states, “w. pers. and thing added π. τινί τι believe someone with regard to someth….W. dat. of pers. and ὅτι foll…. πιστεύετέ μοι ὅτι ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρί J 14:11a. Cp. 4:21; Ac 27:25.”

[27:35]  ¹³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:35]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “taking bread, gave thanks.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:35]  ¹⁵ tn Or “before them all,” but here this could be misunderstood to indicate a temporal sequence.

[27:35]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and breaking it, he began.” The participle κλάσας (klasas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[7:20]  ¹⁶ tn Or “was well-formed before God,” or “was well-pleasing to God” (BDAG 145 s.v. ἀστεῖος suggests the meaning is more like “well-bred” as far as God was concerned; see Exod 2:2).

[7:20]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “who was brought up for three months.” The continuation of the sentence as a relative clause is awkward in English, so a new sentence was started in the translation by changing the relative pronoun to a regular pronoun (“he”).

[12:23]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[12:23]  ²⁰ sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

[12:23]  ²¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:23]  ²² sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).

[23:1]  ²² tn Grk “Paul, looking directly at the council, said.” The participle ἀτενίσας (atenisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:1]  ²³ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[23:1]  ²⁴ tn BDAG 846 s.v. πολιτεύομαι 3 has “W. a double dat. συνειδήσει ἀγαθῇ πεπολίτευμαι τῷ θεῷ I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God Ac 23:1.”

[5:4]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Remaining to you.”

[5:4]  ²⁶ tn The negative interrogative particle οὐχί (ouci) expects a positive reply to this question and the following one (“And when it was sold, was it not at your disposal?”).

[5:4]  ²⁷ tn Grk “it”; the referent of the pronoun (the money generated from the sale of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:4]  ²⁸ tn Grk “How is it that you have [or Why have you] placed this deed in your heart?” Both of these literal translations differ from the normal way of expressing the thought in English.

[5:4]  ²⁹ tn Grk “to men.” If Peter’s remark refers only to the apostles, the translation “to men” would be appropriate. But if (as is likely) the action was taken to impress the entire congregation (who would presumably have witnessed the donation or been aware of it) then the more general “to people” is more appropriate, since the audience would have included both men and women.

[17:23]  ²⁸ tn Or “your sanctuaries.” L&N 53.54 gives “sanctuary” (place of worship) as an alternate meaning for the word σεβάσματα (sebasmata).

[17:23]  ²⁹ tn Grk “on which was written,” but since it would have been carved in stone, it is more common to speak of an “inscription” in English. To simplify the English the relative construction with a passive verb (“on which was inscribed”) was translated as a prepositional phrase with a substantive (“inscription”).

[17:23]  ³⁰ tn BDAG 13 s.v. ἀγνοέω 1.b has “Abs. ὅ ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε what you worship without knowing it (on the subject matter Maximus Tyr. 11, 5e: all sorts of philosophers ἴσασιν οὐκ ἑκόντες καὶ λέγουσιν ἄκοντες sc. τὸ θεῖον = they know and name God without intending to do so) Ac 17:23.” Paul, in typical Jewish Christian style, informs them of the true God, of whom their idols are an ignorant reflection.

[24:14]  ³¹ tn Or “serve.”

[24:14]  ³² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[24:14]  ³³ sn That is, the law of Moses. Paul was claiming that he legitimately worshiped the God of Israel. He was arguing that this amounted to a religious dispute rather than a political one, so that the Roman authorities need not concern themselves with it.

[26:29]  ³⁴ tn BDAG 703 s.v. ὀλίγος 2.b.β has “καὶ ἐν ὀλ. καὶ ἐν μεγάλῳ whether in a short or a long time vs. 29 (cf. B-D-F §195; GWhitaker, The Words of Agrippa to St. Paul: JTS 15, 1914, 82f; AFridrichsen, SymbOsl 14, ’35, 50; Field, Notes 141-43; s. Rob. 653).”

[26:29]  ³⁵ sn Except for these chains. The chains represented Paul’s unjust suffering for the sake of the message. His point was, in effect, “I do not care how long it takes. I only hope you and everyone else hearing this would become believers in Christ, but without my unjust suffering.”

[28:15]  ³⁷ sn Mention of Christian brothers from there (Rome) shows that God’s message had already spread as far as Italy and the capital of the empire.

[28:15]  ³⁸ sn The Forum of Appius was a small traveler’s stop on the Appian Way about 43 mi (71 km) south of Rome (BDAG 125 s.v. ᾿Αππίου φόρον). It was described by Horace as “crammed with boatmen and stingy tavernkeepers” (Satires 1.5.3).

[28:15]  ³⁹ sn Three Taverns was a stop on the Appian Way 33 mi (55 km) south of Rome.

[28:15]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “whom, when he saw [them], Paul.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the personal pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun here in the translation.