Acts 7:51

7:51 “You stubborn ¹  people, with uncircumcised ²  hearts and ears! ³  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ⁴  did!

Acts 13:36

13:36 For David, after he had served ⁵  God’s purpose in his own generation, died, ⁶  was buried with his ancestors, ⁷  and experienced ⁸  decay,

Acts 15:10

15:10 So now why are you putting God to the test ⁹  by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke ¹⁰  that neither our ancestors ¹¹  nor we have been able to bear?

[7:51]  ¹ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

[7:51]  ² tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

[7:51]  ³ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

[7:51]  ⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[13:36]  ⁵ tn The participle ὑπηρετήσας (Juphrethsa") is taken temporally.

[13:36]  ⁶ tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

[13:36]  ⁷ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “was gathered to his fathers” (a Semitic idiom).

[13:36]  ⁸ tn Grk “saw,” but the literal translation of the phrase “saw decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “looked at decay,” while here “saw decay” is really figurative for “experienced decay.” This remark explains why David cannot fulfill the promise.

[15:10]  ⁹ tn According to BDAG 793 s.v. πειράζω 2.c, “In Ac 15:10 the πειράζειν τὸν θεόν consists in the fact that after God’s will has been clearly made known through granting of the Spirit to the Gentiles (v. 8), some doubt and make trial to see whether God’s will really becomes operative.” All testing of God in Luke is negative: Luke 4:2; 11:16.

[15:10]  ¹⁰ sn A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restriction that some in the early church wanted to place on Gentile converts to Christianity of observing the law of Moses and having males circumcised. The yoke is a decidedly negative image: Matt 23:4, but cf. Matt 11:29-30.

[15:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”