Acts 7:35

7:35 This same ¹  Moses they had rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ ²  God sent as both ruler and deliverer ³  through the hand of the angel ⁴  who appeared to him in the bush.

Acts 12:11

12:11 When ⁵  Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued ⁶  me from the hand ⁷  of Herod ⁸  and from everything the Jewish people ⁹  were expecting to happen.”

Acts 12:17

12:17 He motioned to them ¹⁰  with his hand to be quiet and then related ¹¹  how the Lord had brought ¹²  him out of the prison. He said, “Tell James and the brothers these things,” and then he left and went to another place. ¹³ 

Acts 13:11

13:11 Now ¹⁴  look, the hand of the Lord is against ¹⁵  you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!” Immediately mistiness ¹⁶  and darkness came over ¹⁷  him, and he went around seeking people ¹⁸  to lead him by the hand.

Acts 14:3

14:3 So they stayed there ¹⁹  for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord, who testified ²⁰  to the message ²¹  of his grace, granting miraculous signs ²²  and wonders to be performed through their hands.

Acts 19:26

19:26 And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded ²³  and turned away ²⁴  a large crowd, ²⁵  not only in Ephesus ²⁶  but in practically all of the province of Asia, ²⁷  by saying ²⁸  that gods made by hands are not gods at all. ²⁹ 

Acts 21:27

21:27 When the seven days were almost over, ³⁰  the Jews from the province of Asia ³¹  who had seen him in the temple area ³²  stirred up the whole crowd ³³  and seized ³⁴  him,

Acts 21:40

21:40 When the commanding officer ³⁵  had given him permission, ³⁶  Paul stood ³⁷  on the steps and gestured ³⁸  to the people with his hand. When they had become silent, ³⁹  he addressed ⁴⁰  them in Aramaic, ⁴¹ 

Acts 28:4

28:4 When the local people ⁴²  saw the creature hanging from Paul’s ⁴³  hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself ⁴⁴  has not allowed him to live!” ⁴⁵ 

Acts 28:8

28:8 The father ⁴⁶  of Publius lay sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him ⁴⁷  and after praying, placed ⁴⁸  his hands on him and healed ⁴⁹  him.

[7:35]  ¹ sn This same. The reference to “this one” occurs five times in this speech. It is the way the other speeches in Acts refer to Jesus (e.g., Acts 2:23).

[7:35]  ² sn A quotation from Exod 2:14 (see Acts 7:27). God saw Moses very differently than the people of the nation did. The reference to a ruler and a judge suggests that Stephen set up a comparison between Moses and Jesus, but he never finished his speech to make the point. The reader of Acts, however, knowing the other sermons in the book, recognizes that the rejection of Jesus is the counterpoint.

[7:35]  ³ tn Or “liberator.” The meaning “liberator” for λυτρωτήν (lutrwthn) is given in L&N 37.129: “a person who liberates or releases others.”

[7:35]  ⁴ tn Or simply “through the angel.” Here the “hand” could be understood as a figure for the person or the power of the angel himself. The remark about the angel appearing fits the first century Jewish view that God appears to no one (John 1:14-18; Gal 3:19; Deut 33:2 LXX).

[12:11]  ⁵ tn Grk “And when.” 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.

[12:11]  ⁶ tn Or “delivered.”

[12:11]  ⁷ sn Here the hand of Herod is a metaphor for Herod’s power or control.

[12:11]  ⁸ sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great).

[12:11]  ⁹ sn Luke characterizes the opposition here as the Jewish people, including their leadership (see 12:3).

[12:17]  ⁹ tn Or “He gave them a signal.” Grk “Giving them a signal…he related to them.” The participle κατασείσας (kataseisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[12:17]  ¹⁰ tc ‡ Most mss, including some of the most important ones (B D E Ψ Ï sy), read αὐτοῖς (autoi", “to them”) here, while some excellent and early witnesses (Ì^45vid,74vid א A 33 81 945 1739 pc) lack the pronoun. Although it is possible that the pronoun was deleted because it was seen as superfluous, it is also possible that it was added as a natural expansion on the text, strengthening the connection between Peter and his listeners. Although a decision is difficult, the shorter reading is slightly preferred. NA²⁷ puts the pronoun in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[12:17]  ¹¹ tn Or “led.”

[12:17]  ¹² sn He…went to another place. This is Peter’s last appearance in Acts with the exception of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15.

[13:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “And now.” 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.

[13:11]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “upon,” but in a negative sense.

[13:11]  ¹⁵ sn The term translated mistiness here appears in the writings of the physician Galen as a medical technical description of a person who is blind. The picture of judgment to darkness is symbolic as well. Whatever power Elymas had, it represented darkness. Magic will again be an issue in Acts 19:18-19. This judgment is like that of Ananias and his wife in Acts 5:1-11.

[13:11]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “fell on.”

[13:11]  ¹⁷ tn The noun χειραγωγός (ceiragwgo") is plural, so “people” is used rather than singular “someone.”

[14:3]  ¹⁷ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[14:3]  ¹⁸ sn The Lord testified to the message by granting the signs described in the following clause.

[14:3]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “word.”

[14:3]  ²⁰ tn Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned.

[19:26]  ²¹ tn Grk “persuading.” The participle πείσας (peisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[19:26]  ²² tn Or “misled.”

[19:26]  ²³ tn BDAG 472 s.v. ἱκανός 3.a has “of pers. ὄχλος a large crowd…Ac 11:24, 26; 19:26.”

[19:26]  ²⁴ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[19:26]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 22.

[19:26]  ²⁶ tn The participle λέγων (legwn) has been regarded as indicating instrumentality.

[19:26]  ²⁷ tn The words “at all” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[21:27]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 975 s.v. συντελέω 4 has “to come to an end of a duration, come to an end, be over…Ac 21:27.”

[21:27]  ²⁶ 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.

[21:27]  ²⁷ tn Grk “in the temple.” See the note on the word “temple” in v. 28.

[21:27]  ²⁸ tn Or “threw the whole crowd into consternation.” L&N 25.221 has “συνέχεον πάντα τὸν ὄχλον ‘they threw the whole crowd into consternation’ Ac 21:27. It is also possible to render the expression in Ac 21:27 as ‘they stirred up the whole crowd.’”

[21:27]  ²⁹ tn Grk “and laid hands on.”

[21:40]  ²⁹ tn The referent (the commanding officer) has been supplied here in the translation for clarity.

[21:40]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Giving him permission.” The participle ἐπιτρέψαντος (epitreyanto") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:40]  ³¹ tn Grk “standing.” The participle ἑστώς (Jestws) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:40]  ³² tn Or “motioned.”

[21:40]  ³³ tn γενομένης (genomenhs) has been taken temporally. BDAG 922 s.v. σιγή has “πολλῆς σιγῆς γενομένης when a great silence had fallen = when they had become silent Ac 21:40.”

[21:40]  ³⁴ tn Or “spoke out to.” L&N 33.27 has “to address an audience, with possible emphasis upon loudness – ‘to address, to speak out to.’ πολλῆς δέ σιγῆς γενομένης προσεφώνησεν τῇ ᾿Εβραίδι διαλέκτῳ ‘when they were quiet, he addressed them in Hebrew’ Ac 21:40.”

[21:40]  ³⁵ tn Grk “in the Hebrew dialect, saying.” This refers to the Aramaic spoken in Palestine in the 1st century (BDAG 270 s.v. ῾Εβραΐς). The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[28:4]  ³³ tn Although this is literally βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “foreigners, barbarians”) used for non-Greek or non-Romans, as BDAG 166 s.v. βάρβαρος 2.b notes, “Of the inhabitants of Malta, who apparently spoke in their native language Ac 28:2, 4 (here β. certainly without derogatory tone…).”

[28:4]  ³⁴ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:4]  ³⁵ tn That is, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live. BDAG 250 s.v. δίκη 2 states, “Justice personified as a deity Ac 28:4”; L&N 12.27, “a goddess who personifies justice in seeking out and punishing the guilty – ‘the goddess Justice.’ ἡ δίκη ζῆν οὐκ εἴασεν ‘the goddess Justice would not let him live’ Ac 28:4.” Although a number of modern English translations have rendered δίκη (dikh) “justice,” preferring to use an abstraction, in the original setting it is almost certainly a reference to a pagan deity. In the translation, the noun “justice” was capitalized and the reflexive pronoun “herself” was supplied to make the personification clear. This was considered preferable to supplying a word like ‘goddess’ in connection with δίκη.

[28:4]  ³⁶ sn The entire scene is played out initially as a kind of oracle from the gods resulting in the judgment of a guilty person (Justice herself has not allowed him to live). Paul’s survival of this incident without ill effects thus spoke volumes about his innocence.

[28:8]  ³⁷ tn Grk “It happened that the father.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[28:8]  ³⁸ tn Grk “to whom Paul going in.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by a personal pronoun (“him”) and a new sentence begun here in the translation. The participle εἰσελθών (eiselqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[28:8]  ³⁹ tn The participle ἐπιθείς (epiqeis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[28:8]  ⁴⁰ sn And healed him. Here are healings like Luke 9:40; 10:30; 13:13; Acts 16:23.