Acts 7:37-39

7:37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ¹  ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’ ²  7:38 This is the man who was in the congregation ³  in the wilderness ⁴  with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, ⁵  and he ⁶  received living oracles ⁷  to give to you. ⁸  7:39 Our ⁹  ancestors ¹⁰  were unwilling to obey ¹¹  him, but pushed him aside ¹²  and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,

Acts 15:21

15:21 For Moses has had those who proclaim him in every town from ancient times, ¹³  because he is read aloud ¹⁴  in the synagogues ¹⁵  every Sabbath.”

Acts 21:20-22

21:20 When they heard this, they praised ¹⁶  God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews ¹⁷  there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers ¹⁸  of the law. ¹⁹  21:21 They have been informed about you – that you teach all the Jews now living ²⁰  among the Gentiles to abandon ²¹  Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children ²²  or live ²³  according to our customs. 21:22 What then should we do? They will no doubt ²⁴  hear that you have come.

Acts 21:28

21:28 shouting, “Men of Israel, ²⁵  help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, ²⁶  and this sanctuary! ²⁷  Furthermore ²⁸  he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple ²⁹  and made this holy place ritually unclean!” ³⁰ 

John 1:17

1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but ³¹  grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

John 5:45-47

5:45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. ³²  5:46 If ³³  you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 5:47 But if you do not believe what Moses ³⁴  wrote, how will you believe my words?”

John 9:29

9:29 We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man ³⁵  comes from!”

Hebrews 3:2-5

3:2 who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s ³⁶  house. ³⁷  3:3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself! 3:4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 3:5 Now Moses was faithful in all God’s ³⁸  house ³⁹  as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken.

[7:37]  ¹ tn Grk “to the sons of Israel.”

[7:37]  ² sn A quotation from Deut 18:15. This quotation sets up Jesus as the “leader-prophet” like Moses (Acts 3:22; Luke 9:35).

[7:38]  ³ tn This term, ἐκκλησία (ekklhsia), is a secular use of the term that came to mean “church” in the epistles. Here a reference to an assembly is all that is intended.

[7:38]  ⁴ tn Or “desert.”

[7:38]  ⁵ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:38]  ⁶ tn Grk “fathers, who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he” and a new clause introduced by “and” was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.

[7:38]  ⁷ tn Or “messages.” This is an allusion to the law given to Moses.

[7:38]  ⁸ tc ‡ The first person pronoun ἡμῖν (Jhmin, “to us”) is read by A C D E Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat sy, while the second person pronoun ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”) is read by Ì⁷⁴ א B 36 453 al co. The second person pronoun thus has significantly better external support. As well, ὑμῖν is a harder reading in this context, both because it is surrounded by first person pronouns and because Stephen perhaps “does not wish to disassociate himself from those who received God’s revelation in the past, but only from those who misinterpreted and disobeyed that revelation” (TCGNT 307). At the same time, Stephen does associate himself to some degree with his disobedient ancestors in v. 39, suggesting that the decisive break does not really come until v. 51 (where both his present audience and their ancestors are viewed as rebellious). Thus, both externally and internally ὑμῖν is the preferred reading.

[7:39]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:39]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² sn Pushed him aside. This is the second time Moses is “pushed aside” in Stephen’s account (see v. 27).

[15:21]  ¹³ tn Grk “from generations of old”; the translation “fr. ancient times” is given by BDAG 192 s.v. γενεά 3.b.

[15:21]  ¹⁴ tn The translation “read aloud” is used to indicate the actual practice; translating as “read” could be misunderstood to mean private, silent reading.

[15:21]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[21:20]  ¹⁶ tn Or “glorified.”

[21:20]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “how many thousands there are among the Jews.”

[21:20]  ¹⁸ tn Or “are all zealous for the law.” BDAG 427 s.v. ζηλωτής 1.a.β has “of thing…τοῦ νόμου an ardent observer of the law Ac 21:20.”

[21:20]  ¹⁹ sn That is, the law of Moses. These Jewish Christians had remained close to their Jewish practices after becoming believers (1 Cor 7:18-19; Acts 16:3).

[21:21]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 511 s.v. κατά B.1.a has “τοὺς κ. τὰ ἔθνη ᾿Ιουδαίους the Judeans (dispersed) throughout the nations 21:21.” The Jews in view are not those in Palestine, but those who are scattered throughout the Gentile world.

[21:21]  ²¹ tn Or “to forsake,” “to rebel against.” BDAG 120 s.v. ἀποστασία has “ἀποστασίαν διδάσκεις ἀπὸ Μωϋσέως you teach (Judeans) to abandon Moses Ac 21:21.”

[21:21]  ²² sn That is, not to circumcise their male children. Biblical references to circumcision always refer to male circumcision.

[21:21]  ²³ tn Grk “or walk.”

[21:22]  ²⁴ tn L&N 71.16 has “pertaining to being in every respect certain – ‘certainly, really, doubtless, no doubt.’…‘they will no doubt hear that you have come’ Ac 21:22.”

[21:28]  ²⁵ tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage since “the whole crowd” is mentioned in v. 27, although it can also be argued that these remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

[21:28]  ²⁶ sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[21:28]  ²⁷ tn Grk “this place.”

[21:28]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 400 s.v. ἔτι 2.b has “ἔ. δὲ καί furthermore…al. ἔ. τε καί…Lk 14:26; Ac 21:28.” This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek, but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[21:28]  ²⁹ tn Grk “into the temple.” The specific reference is to the Court of the Sons of Israel (see the note following the term “unclean” at the end of this verse). To avoid giving the modern reader the impression that they entered the temple building itself, the phrase “the inner courts of the temple” has been used in the translation.

[21:28]  ³⁰ tn Or “and has defiled this holy place.”

[1:17]  ³¹ tn “But” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the implied contrast between the Mosaic law and grace through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 seems to indicate clearly that the Old Covenant (Sinai) was being contrasted with the New. In Jewish sources the Law was regarded as a gift from God (Josephus, Ant. 3.8.10 [3.223]; Pirqe Avot 1.1; Sifre Deut 31:4 §305). Further information can be found in T. F. Glasson, Moses in the Fourth Gospel (SBT).

[5:45]  ³² sn The final condemnation will come from Moses himself – again ironic, since Moses is the very one the Jewish authorities have trusted in (placed your hope). This is again ironic if it is occurring at Pentecost, which at this time was being celebrated as the occasion of the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. There is evidence that some Jews of the 1st century looked on Moses as their intercessor at the final judgment (see W. A. Meeks, The Prophet King [NovTSup], 161). This would mean the statement Moses, in whom you have placed your hope should be taken literally and relates directly to Jesus’ statements about the final judgment in John 5:28-29.

[5:46]  ³³ tn Grk “For if.”

[5:47]  ³⁴ tn Grk “that one” (“he”); the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:29]  ³⁵ tn Grk “where this one.”

[3:2]  ³⁶ tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:2]  ³⁷ tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early mss and some versions (Ì^13,46vid B vg^ms co Ambr). The majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy) insert “all” (“in all his house”), apparently in anticipation of Heb 3:5 which quotes directly from Num 12:7. On balance, the omission better explains the rise of ὅλῳ ({olw, “all”) than vice versa. NA²⁷ puts ὅλῳ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[3:5]  ³⁸ tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:5]  ³⁹ sn A quotation from Num 12:7.