Acts 7:41-42

7:41 At ¹  that time ²  they made an idol in the form of a calf, ³  brought ⁴  a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing ⁵  in the works of their hands. ⁶  7:42 But God turned away from them and gave them over ⁷  to worship the host ⁸  of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices ⁹  forty years in the wilderness, was it, ¹⁰  house of Israel?

[7:41]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” 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.

[7:41]  ² tn Grk “In those days.”

[7:41]  ³ tn Or “a bull calf” (see Exod 32:4-6). The term μοσχοποιέω (moscopoiew) occurs only in Christian writings according to BDAG 660 s.v.

[7:41]  ⁴ tn Grk “and brought,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[7:41]  ⁵ tn The imperfect verb εὐφραίνοντο (eufrainonto) has been translated ingressively. See BDAG 414-15 s.v. εὐφραίνω 2.

[7:41]  ⁶ tn Or “in what they had done.”

[7:42]  ⁷ sn The expression and gave them over suggests similarities to the judgment on the nations described by Paul in Rom 1:18-32.

[7:42]  ⁸ tn Or “stars.”

[7:42]  ⁹ tn The two terms for sacrifices “semantically reinforce one another and are here combined essentially for emphasis” (L&N 53.20).

[7:42]  ¹⁰ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ question, “was it?”