Acts 6:5

6:5 The ¹  proposal pleased the entire group, so ²  they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with ³  Philip, ⁴  Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism ⁵  from Antioch. ⁶ 

Acts 9:15

9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument ⁷  to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. ⁸ 

Acts 10:30

10:30 Cornelius ⁹  replied, ¹⁰  “Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock in the afternoon, ¹¹  I was praying in my house, and suddenly ¹²  a man in shining clothing stood before me

Acts 10:33

10:33 Therefore I sent for you at once, and you were kind enough to come. ¹³  So now we are all here in the presence of God ¹⁴  to listen ¹⁵  to everything the Lord has commanded you to say to us.” ¹⁶ 

Acts 19:9

19:9 But when ¹⁷  some were stubborn ¹⁸  and refused to believe, reviling ¹⁹  the Way ²⁰  before the congregation, he left ²¹  them and took the disciples with him, ²²  addressing ²³  them every day ²⁴  in the lecture hall ²⁵  of Tyrannus.

Acts 19:19

19:19 Large numbers ²⁶  of those who had practiced magic ²⁷  collected their books ²⁸  and burned them up in the presence of everyone. ²⁹  When ³⁰  the value of the books was added up, it was found to total fifty thousand silver coins. ³¹ 

[6:5]  ¹ tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[6:5]  ² tn The translation “so” has been used to indicate the logical sequence in English.

[6:5]  ³ tn “With” is smoother English style for an addition like this. Because of differences between Greek and English style, καί (kai), which occurs between each name in the list, has not been translated except preceding the last element.

[6:5]  ⁴ sn Philip. Note how many of the names in this list are Greek. This suggests that Hellenists were chosen to solve the problem they had been so sensitive about fixing (cf. 6:1).

[6:5]  ⁵ tn Or “a proselyte.”

[6:5]  ⁶ map For location see JP1 F2; JP2 F2; JP3 F2; JP4 F2.

[9:15]  ⁷ tn Or “tool.”

[9:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “the sons of Israel.” In Acts, Paul is a minister to all nations, including Israel (Rom 1:16-17).

[10:30]  ¹³ tn Grk “And Cornelius.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[10:30]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “said.”

[10:30]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “at the ninth hour.” Again, this is the hour of afternoon prayer.

[10:30]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “and behold.” The interjection ἰδού (idou) is difficult at times to translate into English. Here it has been translated as “suddenly” to convey the force of Cornelius’ account of the angel’s appearance.

[10:33]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “you have done well by coming.” The idiom καλῶς ποιεῖν (kalw" poiein) is translated “be kind enough to do someth.” by BDAG 505-6 s.v. καλῶς 4.a. The participle παραγενόμενος (paragenomeno") has been translated as an English infinitive due to the nature of the English idiom (“kind enough to” + infinitive).

[10:33]  ²⁰ tn The translation “we are here in the presence of God” for ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ πάρεσμεν (enwpion tou qeou paresmen) is given by BDAG 773 s.v. πάρειμι 1.a.

[10:33]  ²¹ tn Or “to hear everything.”

[10:33]  ²² tn The words “to say to us” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Cornelius knows Peter is God’s representative, bringing God’s message.

[19:9]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 1105-6 s.v. ὡς 8.b lists this use as a temporal conjunction.

[19:9]  ²⁶ tn Or “some became hardened.” See BDAG 930 s.v. σκληρύνω b and Acts 7:51-53.

[19:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “speaking evil of.” BDAG 500 s.v. κακολογέω has “speak evil of, revile, insult…τὶ someth. τὴν ὁδόν the Way (i.e. Christian way of life) Ac 19:9.”

[19:9]  ²⁸ sn The Way refers to the Christian movement (Christianity). Luke frequently refers to it as “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 18:25-26; 19:23; 22:4; 24:14, 22).

[19:9]  ²⁹ tn Grk “leaving them, he took.” The participle ἀποστάς (apostas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:9]  ³⁰ tn The words “with him” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[19:9]  ³¹ tn Although the word διελέξατο (dielexato; from διαλέγομαι, dialegomai) is frequently translated “reasoned,” “disputed,” or “argued,” this sense comes from its classical meaning where it was used of philosophical disputation, including the Socratic method of questions and answers. However, there does not seem to be contextual evidence for this kind of debate in Acts 19:9. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21.

[19:9]  ³² tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase in this verse.

[19:9]  ³³ tn The “lecture hall” was a place where teachers and pupils met. The term is a NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 982 s.v. σχολή). L&N 7.14 notes, “it is better to use a translation such as ‘lecture hall’ rather than ‘school,’ since one does not wish to give the impression of the typical classroom situation characteristic of present-day schools.”

[19:19]  ³¹ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 4.a has “many, quite a few” for ἱκανοί (Jikanoi) in this verse.

[19:19]  ³² tn On this term see BDAG 800 s.v. περίεργος 2.

[19:19]  ³³ tn Or “scrolls.”

[19:19]  ³⁴ tn Or “burned them up publicly.” L&N 14.66 has “‘they brought their books together and burned them up in the presence of everyone’ Ac 19:19.”

[19:19]  ³⁵ tn Grk “and when.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[19:19]  ³⁶ tn Or “fifty thousand silver drachmas” (about $10,000 US dollars). BDAG 128 s.v. ἀργύριον 2.c states, “ἀργυρίου μυριάδας πέντε 50,000 (Attic silver) drachmas Ac 19:19.” Another way to express the value would be in sheep: One drachma could buy one sheep. So this many drachmas could purchase a huge flock of sheep. A drachma also equals a denarius, or a day’s wage for the average worker. So this amount would be equal to 50,000 work days or in excess of 8,300 weeks of labor (the weeks are calculated at six working days because of the Jewish cultural context). The impact of Christianity on the Ephesian economy was considerable (note in regard to this the concerns expressed in 19:26-27).