Acts 7:22

7:22 So Moses was trained ¹  in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful ²  in his words and deeds.

Acts 2:24

2:24 But God raised him up, ³  having released ⁴  him from the pains ⁵  of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power. ⁶ 

Acts 18:24

Apollos Begins His Ministry

18:24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus. ⁷  He was an eloquent speaker, ⁸  well-versed ⁹  in the scriptures.

Acts 25:5

25:5 “So,” he said, “let your leaders ¹⁰  go down there ¹¹  with me, and if this man has done anything wrong, ¹²  they may bring charges ¹³  against him.”

Acts 11:17

11:17 Therefore if God ¹⁴  gave them the same gift ¹⁵  as he also gave us after believing ¹⁶  in the Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁷  who was I to hinder ¹⁸  God?”

Acts 20:16

20:16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus ¹⁹  so as not to spend time ²⁰  in the province of Asia, ²¹  for he was hurrying ²²  to arrive in Jerusalem, ²³  if possible, ²⁴  by the day of Pentecost.

[7:22]  ¹ tn Or “instructed.”

[7:22]  ² tn Or “was able” (BDAG 264 s.v. δυνατός 1.b.α).

[2:24]  ³ tn Grk “Whom God raised up.”

[2:24]  ⁴ tn Or “having freed.”

[2:24]  ⁵ sn The term translated pains is frequently used to describe pains associated with giving birth (see Rev 12:2). So there is irony here in the mixed metaphor.

[2:24]  ⁶ tn Or “for him to be held by it” (in either case, “it” refers to death’s power).

[18:24]  ⁵ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[18:24]  ⁶ tn Or “was a learned man.” In this verse λόγιος (logios) can refer to someone who was an attractive and convincing speaker, a rhetorician (L&N 33.32), or it can refer to the person who has acquired a large part of the intellectual heritage of a given culture (“learned” or “cultured,” L&N 27.20, see also BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιος which lists both meanings as possible here). The description of Apollos’ fervent speaking in the following verses, as well as implications from 1 Cor 1-4, where Paul apparently compares his style and speaking ability with that of Apollos, suggests that eloquent speaking ability or formal rhetorical skill are in view here. This clause has been moved from its order in the Greek text (Grk “a certain Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus, who was powerful in the scriptures”) and paired with the last element (“powerful in the scriptures”) due to the demands of clarity and contemporary English style.

[18:24]  ⁷ tn Grk “powerful.” BDAG 264 s.v. δυνατός 1.b has “in the Scriptures = well-versed 18:24.”

[25:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “let those who are influential among you” (i.e., the powerful).

[25:5]  ⁸ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[25:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “and if there is anything wrong with this man,” but this could be misunderstood in English to mean a moral or physical defect, while the issue in context is the commission of some crime, something legally improper (BDAG 149 s.v. ἄτοπος 2).

[25:5]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 533 s.v. κατηγορέω 1 states, “nearly always as legal t.t.: bring charges in court.” L&N 33.427 states for κατηγορέω, “to bring serious charges or accusations against someone, with the possible connotation of a legal or court context – ‘to accuse, to bring charges.”

[11:17]  ⁹ tc Codex Bezae (D) and {a few other Western witnesses} here lack ὁ θεός (Jo qeo", “God”), perhaps because these scribes considered the Holy Spirit to be the gift of Christ rather than the gift of God; thus leaving the subject implicit would naturally draw the reader back to v. 16 to see the Lord Jesus as the bestower of the Spirit.

[11:17]  ¹⁰ sn That is, the same gift of the Holy Spirit.

[11:17]  ¹¹ tn Or “gave us when we believed”; or “gave us after we believed”; or “gave us who believed”; or “gave them when they believed the same gift as he also gave us.” The aorist dative plural participle πιστεύσασιν (pisteusasin) can be understood in several different ways: (1) It could modify ἡμῖν (Jhmin, “us”) or αὐτοῖς (autois, “them”). Proximity (it immediately follows ἡμῖν) would suggest that it belongs with ἡμῖν, so the last option (“gave them when they believed the same gift he also gave us”) is less likely. (2) The participle could be either adverbial or adjectival, modifying ἡμῖν. This decision is primarily a contextual one. The point Peter made is not whether or not the Gentiles believed, since both groups (“us” and “they”) had believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. The point was whether or not the Gentiles received the Spirit when they believed, just as Jewish Christians had received the Spirit on the day of Pentecost when they believed. Translated as an adjectival participle, πιστεύσασιν only affirms the fact of belief, however, and raises somewhat of a theological problem if one realizes, “Would God have given the Gentiles the Spirit if they had not believed?” (In other words, belief in itself is a theological prerequisite for receiving the Spirit. As such, in the case of the Gentiles, it is assumed.) Thus in context it makes more sense to understand the participle πιστεύσασιν as adverbial, related to the time of belief in connection with the giving of the Spirit. (3) The participle πιστεύσασιν as a temporal participle can refer to action antecedent to the action of the main verb ἔδωκεν (edwken) or contemporaneous with it. Logically, at least, the gift of the Spirit followed belief in the case of the original Christians, who had believed before the day of Pentecost. In the case of Cornelius and his household, belief and the reception of the Spirit were virtually simultaneous. One can argue that Peter is “summarizing” the experience of Jewish Christians, and therefore the actions of belief and reception of the Spirit, while historically separate, have been “telescoped” into one (“gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed”), but to be technically accurate the participle πιστεύσασιν should be translated “gave them the same gift as he also gave us after we believed.” A number of these problems can be avoided, however, by using a translation in English that maintains some of the ambiguity of the Greek original. Thus “if God gave them the same gift as he also gave us after believing” is used, where the phrase “after believing” can refer either to “them” or to “us,” or both.

[11:17]  ¹² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[11:17]  ¹³ tn Or “prevent,” “forbid” (BDAG 580 s.v. κωλύω 1.a). Peter’s point is that he will not stand in the way of God.

[20:16]  ¹¹ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[20:16]  ¹² tn Grk “so that he might not have to spend time.” L&N 67.79 has “ὅπως μὴ γένηται αὐτῷ χρονοτριβῆσαι ἐν τῇ ᾿Ασίᾳ ‘so as not to spend any time in the province of Asia’ Ac 20:16.”

[20:16]  ¹³ 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.

[20:16]  ¹⁴ tn Or “was eager.”

[20:16]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[20:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “if it could be to him” (an idiom).