Acts 7:28

7:28 You don’t want to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ ¹ 

Acts 25:9

25:9 But Festus, ²  wanting to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and be tried ³  before me there on these charges?” ⁴ 

Acts 2:12

2:12 All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”

Acts 10:10

10:10 He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing the meal, a trance came over him. ⁵ 

Acts 17:20

17:20 For you are bringing some surprising things ⁶  to our ears, so we want to know what they ⁷  mean.”

Acts 18:21

18:21 but said farewell to ⁸  them and added, ⁹  “I will come back ¹⁰  to you again if God wills.” ¹¹  Then ¹²  he set sail from Ephesus,

Acts 26:5

26:5 They know, ¹³  because they have known ¹⁴  me from time past, ¹⁵  if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party ¹⁶  of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. ¹⁷ 

Acts 7:39

7:39 Our ¹⁸  ancestors ¹⁹  were unwilling to obey ²⁰  him, but pushed him aside ²¹  and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,

Acts 14:13

14:13 The priest of the temple ²²  of Zeus, ²³  located just outside the city, brought bulls ²⁴  and garlands ²⁵  to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them. ²⁶ 

Acts 19:33

19:33 Some of the crowd concluded ²⁷  it was about ²⁸  Alexander because the Jews had pushed him to the front. ²⁹  Alexander, gesturing ³⁰  with his hand, was wanting to make a defense ³¹  before the public assembly. ³² 

Acts 16:3

16:3 Paul wanted Timothy ³³  to accompany him, and he took ³⁴  him and circumcised ³⁵  him because of the Jews who were in those places, ³⁶  for they all knew that his father was Greek. ³⁷ 

Acts 24:27

24:27 After two years ³⁸  had passed, Porcius Festus ³⁹  succeeded Felix, ⁴⁰  and because he wanted to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. ⁴¹ 

Acts 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ⁴²  and Stoic ⁴³  philosophers were conversing ⁴⁴  with him, and some were asking, ⁴⁵  “What does this foolish babbler ⁴⁶  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ⁴⁷  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ⁴⁸ 

[7:28]  ¹ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ at the end, “do you?”

[25:9]  ² sn See the note on Porcius Festus in 24:27.

[25:9]  ³ tn Or “stand trial.”

[25:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “concerning these things.”

[10:10]  ³ tn The traditional translation, “he fell into a trance,” is somewhat idiomatic; it is based on the textual variant ἐπέπεσεν (epepesen, “he fell”) found in the Byzantine text but almost certainly not original.

[17:20]  ⁴ tn BDAG 684 s.v. ξενίζω 2 translates the substantival participle ξενίζοντα (xenizonta) as “astonishing things Ac 17:20.”

[17:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “these things”; but since the referent (“surprising things”) is so close, the repetition of “these things” sounds redundant in English, so the pronoun “they” was substituted in the translation.

[18:21]  ⁵ tn Or “but took leave of.”

[18:21]  ⁶ tn Grk “and saying”; the participle εἰπών (eipwn) has been translated as “added” rather than “said” to avoid redundancy with the previous “said farewell.” The participle εἰπών has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:21]  ⁷ tn Or “will return.”

[18:21]  ⁸ tn The participle θέλοντος (qelontos), a genitive absolute construction, has been translated as a conditional adverbial participle. Again Paul acts in dependence on God.

[18:21]  ⁹ tn A new sentence was begun here in the translation due to the length of the sentence in Greek and the requirements of contemporary English style, which generally uses shorter sentences.

[26:5]  ⁶ tn These words are repeated from v. 4 (“all the Jews know”). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, it was necessary to begin a new sentence at the beginning of v. 5 in the translation, but for this to make sense, the main verb ἵσασι ({isasi) has to be repeated to connect with the ὅτι (Joti) clause (indirect discourse) in v. 5.

[26:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “having known me from time past.” The participle προγινώσκοντες (proginwskonte") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[26:5]  ⁸ tn BDAG 866 s.v. προγινώσκω 2 has “Know from time past…προγινώσκοντές με ἄνωθεν Ac 26:5.” L&N 28.6 states, “‘they have already known me beforehand, if they are willing to testify’ Ac 26:5.”

[26:5]  ⁹ tn That is, strictest religious party. “Party” alone is used in the translation because “the strictest religious party of our religion” would be redundant.

[26:5]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

[7:39]  ⁷ tn Grk “whom our.” The continuation of the sentence as a relative clause is awkward in English, so a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.

[7:39]  ⁸ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:39]  ⁹ sn To obey. Again the theme of the speech is noted. The nation disobeyed the way of God and opted for Egypt over the promised land.

[7:39]  ¹⁰ sn Pushed him aside. This is the second time Moses is “pushed aside” in Stephen’s account (see v. 27).

[14:13]  ⁸ tn The words “the temple of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. The translation “the priest of (the temple/shrine of) Zeus located before the city” is given for this phrase by BDAG 426 s.v. Ζεύς.

[14:13]  ⁹ sn See the note on Zeus in the previous verse.

[14:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “oxen.”

[14:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “wreaths.”

[14:13]  ¹² tn The words “to them” are not in the Greek text, but are clearly implied by the response of Paul and Barnabas in the following verse.

[19:33]  ⁹ tn Or “Some of the crowd gave instructions to.”

[19:33]  ¹⁰ tn The words “it was about” are not in the Greek text but are implied; ᾿Αλέξανδρον (Alexandron) is taken to be an accusative of general reference.

[19:33]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 865 s.v. προβάλλω 1 has “to cause to come forward, put forward…τινά someone…push someone forward to speak in the theater…Ac 19:33.”

[19:33]  ¹² tn Or “motioning.”

[19:33]  ¹³ sn The nature of Alexander’s defense is not clear. It appears he was going to explain, as a Jew, that the problem was not caused by Jews, but by those of “the Way.” However, he never got a chance to speak.

[19:33]  ¹⁴ tn Or “before the crowd.” According to BDAG 223 s.v. δῆμος 2, “in a Hellenistic city, a convocation of citizens called together for the purpose of transacting official business, popular assembly…ἀπολογεῖσθαι τῷ δ. make a defense before the assembly vs. 33.”

[16:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “this one”; the referent (Timothy) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:3]  ¹¹ tn Grk “and taking him he circumcised him.” The participle λαβών (labwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Paul’s cultural sensitivity showed in his action here. He did not want Timothy’s lack of circumcision to become an issue (1 Cor 9:15-23).

[16:3]  ¹² tn The verb περιέτεμεν (perietemen) here may be understood as causative (cf. ExSyn 411-12) if Paul did not personally perform the circumcision.

[16:3]  ¹³ tn Or “who lived in the area.”

[16:3]  ¹⁴ tn The anarthrous predicate nominative has been translated as qualitative (“Greek”) rather than indefinite (“a Greek”).

[24:27]  ¹¹ tn Grk “After a two-year period.”

[24:27]  ¹² sn Porcius Festus was the procurator of Palestine who succeeded Felix; neither the beginning nor the end of his rule (at his death) can be determined with certainty, although he appears to have died in office after about two years. Nero recalled Felix in a.d. 57 or 58, and Festus was appointed to his vacant office in a.d. 57, 58, or 59. According to Josephus (Ant. 20.8.9-10 [20.182-188]; J. W. 2.14.1 [2.271-272]), his administration was better than that of his predecessor Felix or his successor Albinus, but Luke in Acts portrays him in a less favorable light: He was willing to sacrifice Paul to court Jewish favor by taking him to Jerusalem for trial (v. 9), regardless of Paul’s guilt or innocence. The one characteristic for which Festus was noted is that he dealt harshly with those who disturbed the peace.

[24:27]  ¹³ tn Grk “Felix received as successor Porcius Festus.”

[24:27]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “left Paul imprisoned.”

[17:18]  ¹² sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

[17:18]  ¹³ sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

[17:18]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ¹⁶ tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

[17:18]  ¹⁷ tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

[17:18]  ¹⁸ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.