Acts 6:13

6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ¹  and the law. ² 

Acts 7:7

7:7 But I will punish ³  the nation they serve as slaves,’ said God, ‘and after these things they will come out of there ⁴  and worship ⁵  me in this place.’ ⁶ 

Acts 7:33

7:33 But the Lord said to him, ‘Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ⁷ 

Acts 27:2

27:2 We went on board ⁸  a ship from Adramyttium ⁹  that was about to sail to various ports ¹⁰  along the coast of the province of Asia ¹¹  and put out to sea, ¹²  accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian ¹³  from Thessalonica. ¹⁴ 

Acts 27:8

27:8 With difficulty we sailed along the coast ¹⁵  of Crete ¹⁶  and came to a place called Fair Havens that was near the town of Lasea. ¹⁷ 

Acts 27:41

27:41 But they encountered a patch of crosscurrents ¹⁸  and ran the ship aground; the bow stuck fast and could not be moved, but the stern was being broken up by the force ¹⁹  of the waves.

Acts 28:7

28:7 Now in the region around that place ²⁰  were fields belonging to the chief official ²¹  of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably as guests for three days.

[6:13]  ¹ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

[6:13]  ² sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.

[7:7]  ³ tn BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α states, “Oft. the emphasis is unmistakably laid upon that which follows the Divine Judge’s verdict, upon the condemnation or punishment: condemn, punish …Ac 7:7 (Gen 15:14).”

[7:7]  ⁴ tn The words “of there” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[7:7]  ⁵ tn Or “and serve,” but with religious/cultic overtones (BDAG 587 s.v. λατρεύω).

[7:7]  ⁶ sn An allusion to Exod 3:12.

[7:33]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Exod 3:5. The phrase holy ground points to the fact that God is not limited to a particular locale. The place where he is active in revealing himself is a holy place.

[27:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “Going on board.” The participle ἐπιβάντες (epibante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:2]  ⁸ sn Adramyttium was a seaport in Mysia on the western coast of Asia Minor.

[27:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “places.”

[27:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[27:2]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4 states, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”

[27:2]  ¹² sn A Macedonian. The city of Thessalonica (modern Salonica) was in the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[27:2]  ¹³ map For location see JP1 C1; JP2 C1; JP3 C1; JP4 C1.

[27:8]  ⁹ tn Grk “sailing along the coast…we came.” The participle παραλεγόμενοι (paralegomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. L&N 54.8, “παραλέγομαι: (a technical, nautical term) to sail along beside some object – ‘to sail along the coast, to sail along the shore.’ …‘they sailed along the coast of Crete’ Ac 27:13.”

[27:8]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “it”; the referent (Crete) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[27:8]  ¹¹ sn Lasea was a city on the southern coast of the island of Crete. This was about 60 mi (96 km) farther.

[27:41]  ¹¹ tn Grk “fell upon a place of two seas.” The most common explanation for this term is that it refers to a reef or sandbar with the sea on both sides, as noted in BDAG 245 s.v. διθάλασσος: the “τόπος δ. Ac 27:41 is a semantic unit signifying a point (of land jutting out with water on both sides).” However, Greek had terms for a “sandbank” (θῖς [qis], ταινία [tainia]), a “reef” (ἑρμα [Jerma]), “strait” (στενόν [stenon]), “promontory” (ἀρωτήρον [arwthron]), and other nautical hazards, none of which are used by the author here. NEB here translates τόπον διθάλασσον (topon diqalasson) as “cross-currents,” a proposal close to that advanced by J. M. Gilchrist, “The Historicity of Paul’s Shipwreck,” JSNT 61 (1996): 29-51, who suggests the meaning is “a patch of cross-seas,” where the waves are set at an angle to the wind, a particular hazard for sailors. Thus the term most likely refers to some sort of adverse sea conditions rather than a topographical feature like a reef or sandbar.

[27:41]  ¹² tn Or “violence” (BDAG 175 s.v. βία a).

[28:7]  ¹³ tn BDAG 798 s.v. περί 2.a.γ states, “of nearby places…τὰ περὶ τὸν τὸπον the region around the place Ac 28:7.” The presence of ἐκεῖνον (ekeinon) results in the translation “that place.”

[28:7]  ¹⁴ tn That is, the chief Roman official. Several inscriptions have confirmed the use of πρῶτος (prwtos) as an administrative title used on the island of Malta for the highest Roman official. See further BDAG 852 s.v. Πόπλιος.