Acts 5:40

5:40 and they summoned the apostles and had them beaten. ¹  Then ²  they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.

Acts 7:40

7:40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go in front of us, for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt ³  – we do not know what has happened to him!’ ⁴ 

Acts 15:2

15:2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate ⁵  with them, the church ⁶  appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with ⁷  the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ⁸  about this point of disagreement. ⁹ 

Acts 23:10

23:10 When the argument became ¹⁰  so great the commanding officer ¹¹  feared that they would tear Paul to pieces, ¹²  he ordered the detachment ¹³  to go down, take him away from them by force, ¹⁴  and bring him into the barracks. ¹⁵ 

[5:40]  ¹ sn Had them beaten. The punishment was the “forty lashes minus one,” see also Acts 22:19; 2 Cor 11:24; Mark 13:9. The apostles had disobeyed the religious authorities and took their punishment for their “disobedience” (Deut 25:2-3; m. Makkot 3:10-14). In Acts 4:18 they were warned. Now they are beaten. The hostility is rising as the narrative unfolds.

[5:40]  ² tn The word “Then” is supplied as the beginning of a new sentence in the translation. The construction in Greek has so many clauses (most of them made up of participles) that a continuous English sentence would be very awkward.

[7:40]  ³ tn Or simply “of Egypt.” The phrase “the land of” could be omitted as unnecessary or redundant.

[7:40]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Exod 32:1, 23. Doubt (we do not know what has happened to him) expresses itself in unfaithful action. The act is in contrast to God’s promise in Exod 23:20.

[15:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “no little argument and debate” (an idiom).

[15:2]  ⁶ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the church, or the rest of the believers at Antioch) has been specified to avoid confusion with the Judaizers mentioned in the preceding clause.

[15:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “go up to,” but in this context a meeting is implied.

[15:2]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:2]  ⁹ tn Or “point of controversy.” It is unclear whether this event parallels Gal 2:1-10 or that Gal 2 fits with Acts 11:30. More than likely Gal 2:1-10 is to be related to Acts 11:30.

[23:10]  ⁷ tn This genitive absolute construction with the participle γινομένης (ginomenhs) has been taken temporally (it could also be translated as causal).

[23:10]  ⁸ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (ciliarco") literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militare, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.

[23:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “that Paul would be torn to pieces by them.” BDAG 236 s.v. διασπάω has “of an angry mob μὴ διασπασθῇ ὁ Παῦλος ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν that Paul would be torn in pieces by them Ac 23:10.” The passive construction is somewhat awkward in English and has been converted to an equivalent active construction in the translation.

[23:10]  ¹⁰ tn Normally this term means “army,” but according to BDAG 947 s.v. στράτευμα, “Of a smaller detachment of soldiers, sing. Ac 23:10, 27.” In the plural it can be translated “troops,” but it is singular here.

[23:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “to go down, grab him out of their midst.”

[23:10]  ¹² tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”