Acts 7:8

7:8 Then God ¹  gave Abraham ²  the covenant ³  of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old, ⁴  and Isaac became the father of ⁵  Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. ⁶ 

Acts 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ⁷  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ⁸  persecution began ⁹  against the church in Jerusalem, ¹⁰  and all ¹¹  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ¹²  of Judea and Samaria.

Acts 16:13

16:13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the side of the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down ¹³  and began to speak ¹⁴  to the women ¹⁵  who had assembled there. ¹⁶ 

Acts 27:39

Paul is Shipwrecked

27:39 When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed ¹⁷  a bay ¹⁸  with a beach, ¹⁹  where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.

[7:8]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:8]  ² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:8]  ³ sn God gave…the covenant. Note how the covenant of promise came before Abraham’s entry into the land and before the building of the temple.

[7:8]  ⁴ tn Grk “circumcised him on the eighth day,” but many modern readers will not understand that this procedure was done on the eighth day after birth. The temporal clause “when he was eight days old” conveys this idea more clearly. See Gen 17:11-12.

[7:8]  ⁵ tn The words “became the father of” are not in the Greek text due to an ellipsis, but must be supplied for the English translation. The ellipsis picks up the verb from the previous clause describing how Abraham fathered Isaac.

[7:8]  ⁶ sn The twelve patriarchs refers to the twelve sons of Jacob, the famous ancestors of the Jewish race (see Gen 35:23-26).

[8:1]  ⁷ tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

[8:1]  ⁸ tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

[8:1]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ¹¹ sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

[8:1]  ¹² tn Or “countryside.”

[16:13]  ¹³ tn Grk “and sitting down we began to speak.” The participle καθίσαντες (kaqisante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[16:13]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect verb ἐλαλοῦμεν (elaloumen) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[16:13]  ¹⁵ sn To the women. Apparently there were not enough Jews present in Philippi to have a synagogue (ten men would have been required to have one).

[16:13]  ¹⁶ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[27:39]  ¹⁹ tn Or “observed,” “saw.”

[27:39]  ²⁰ tn Or “gulf” (BDAG 557 s.v. κόλπος 3).

[27:39]  ²¹ sn A beach would refer to a smooth sandy beach suitable for landing.