Acts 8:1

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

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ²  persecution began ³  against the church in Jerusalem, ⁴  and all ⁵  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ⁶  of Judea and Samaria.

Acts 12:11

12:11 When ⁷  Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued ⁸  me from the hand ⁹  of Herod ¹⁰  and from everything the Jewish people ¹¹  were expecting to happen.”

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 ¹²  and began to speak ¹³  to the women ¹⁴  who had assembled there. ¹⁵ 

Acts 17:6

17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged ¹⁶  Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, ¹⁷  screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble ¹⁸  throughout the world ¹⁹  have come here too,

Acts 22:29

22:29 Then those who were about to interrogate him stayed away ²⁰  from him, and the commanding officer ²¹  was frightened when he realized that Paul ²²  was ²³  a Roman citizen ²⁴  and that he had had him tied up. ²⁵ 

Acts 23:30

23:30 When I was informed ²⁶  there would be a plot ²⁷  against this man, I sent him to you at once, also ordering his accusers to state their charges ²⁸  against him before you.

Acts 27:21

27:21 Since many of them had no desire to eat, ²⁹  Paul ³⁰  stood up ³¹  among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me ³²  and not put out to sea ³³  from Crete, thus avoiding ³⁴  this damage and loss.

[8:1]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ³ 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]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “countryside.”

[12:11]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “delivered.”

[12:11]  ⁹ sn Here the hand of Herod is a metaphor for Herod’s power or control.

[12:11]  ¹⁰ sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great).

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

[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.

[17:6]  ¹⁹ tn See BDAG 977-78 s.v. σύρω on this verb. It was used in everyday speech of dragging in fish by a net, or dragging away someone’s (presumably) dead body (Paul in Acts 14:19).

[17:6]  ²⁰ tn L&N 37.93 defines πολιτάρχης (politarch") as “a public official responsible for administrative matters within a town or city and a member of the ruling council of such a political unit – ‘city official’” (see also BDAG 845 s.v.).

[17:6]  ²¹ tn Or “rebellion.” BDAG 72 s.v. ἀναστατόω has “disturb, trouble, upset,” but in light of the references in the following verse to political insurrection, “stirred up rebellion” would also be appropriate.

[17:6]  ²² tn Or “the empire.” This was a way of referring to the Roman empire (BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 2.b).

[22:29]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 158 s.v. ἀφίστημι 2.b has “keep away…ἀπό τινος… Lk 4:13; Ac 5:38; 2 Cor 12:8…cp. Ac 22:29.” In context, the point would seem to be not that the interrogators departed or withdrew, but that they held back from continuing the flogging.

[22:29]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 24.

[22:29]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:29]  ²⁸ tn This is a present tense (ἐστιν, estin) retained in indirect discourse. It must be translated as a past tense in contemporary English.

[22:29]  ²⁹ tn The word “citizen” is supplied here for emphasis and clarity.

[22:29]  ³⁰ sn Had him tied up. Perhaps a reference to the chains in Acts 21:33, or the preparations for the lashing in Acts 22:25. A trial would now be needed to resolve the matter. The Roman authorities’ hesitation to render a judgment in the case occurs repeatedly: Acts 22:30; 23:28-29; 24:22; 25:20, 26-27. The legal process begun here would take the rest of Acts and will be unresolved at the end. The process itself took four years of Paul’s life.

[23:30]  ³¹ tn Grk “It being revealed to me.” The participle μηνυθείσης (mhnuqeish") has been taken temporally.

[23:30]  ³² tn The term translated “plot” here is a different one than the one in Acts 23:16 (see BDAG 368 s.v. ἐπιβουλή).

[23:30]  ³³ tn Grk “the things against him.” This could be rendered as “accusations,” “grievances,” or “charges,” but since “ordered his accusers to state their accusations” sounds redundant in English, “charges” was used instead.

[27:21]  ³⁷ tn Or “Since they had no desire to eat for a long time.” The genitive absolute construction with the participle ὑπαρχούσης (Juparcoush") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle. It could also be translated temporally (“When many of them had no desire to eat”). The translation of πολλῆς (pollhs) as a substantized adjective referring to the people on board the ship (“many of them”) rather than a period of time (“for a long time”; so most modern versions) follows BDAG 143 s.v. ἀσιτία, which has “πολλῆς ἀ. ὑπαρχούσης since almost nobody wanted to eat because of anxiety or seasickness…Ac 27:21.” This detail indicates how turbulent things were on board the ship.

[27:21]  ³⁸ tn Here τότε (tote) is redundant (pleonastic) according to BDAG 1012-13 s.v. τότε 2; thus it has not been translated.

[27:21]  ³⁹ tn Grk “standing up…said.” The participle σταθείς (staqeis) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[27:21]  ⁴⁰ tn L&N 36.12 has “πειθαρχήσαντάς μοι μὴ ἀνάγεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς Κρήτης ‘you should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete’ Ac 27:21.”

[27:21]  ⁴¹ tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”

[27:21]  ⁴² tn The infinitive κερδῆσαι (kerdhsai) has been translated as resultative.