Acts 8:12-13

8:12 But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God ¹  and the name of Jesus Christ, ²  they began to be baptized, ³  both men and women. 8:13 Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to ⁴  Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed. ⁵ 

Acts 9:26

Saul Returns to Jerusalem

9:26 When he arrived in Jerusalem, ⁶  he attempted to associate ⁷  with the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, because they did not believe ⁸  that he was a disciple.

Acts 10:43

10:43 About him all the prophets testify, ⁹  that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins ¹⁰  through his name.”

Acts 13:39

13:39 and by this one ¹¹  everyone who believes is justified ¹²  from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify ¹³  you. ¹⁴ 

Acts 13:48

13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice ¹⁵  and praise ¹⁶  the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life ¹⁷  believed.

Acts 14:1

Paul and Barnabas at Iconium

14:1 The same thing happened in Iconium ¹⁸  when Paul and Barnabas ¹⁹  went into the Jewish synagogue ²⁰  and spoke in such a way that a large group ²¹  of both Jews and Greeks believed.

Acts 15:5

15:5 But some from the religious party of the Pharisees ²²  who had believed stood up and said, “It is necessary ²³  to circumcise the Gentiles ²⁴  and to order them to observe ²⁵  the law of Moses.”

Acts 17:34

17:34 But some people ²⁶  joined him ²⁷  and believed. Among them ²⁸  were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, ²⁹  a woman ³⁰  named Damaris, and others with them.

Acts 19:2

19:2 and said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” ³¹  They replied, ³²  “No, we have not even ³³  heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

Acts 21:25

21:25 But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter, having decided ³⁴  that they should avoid ³⁵  meat that has been sacrificed to idols ³⁶  and blood and what has been strangled ³⁷  and sexual immorality.”

Acts 22:19

22:19 I replied, ³⁸  ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues ³⁹  who believed in you.

[8:12]  ¹ sn The kingdom of God is also what Jesus preached: Acts 1:3. The term reappears in 14:22; 19:8; 28:23, 31.

[8:12]  ² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[8:12]  ³ tn The imperfect verb ἐβαπτίζοντο (ebaptizonto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[8:13]  ⁴ tn Or “he kept close company with.”

[8:13]  ⁵ sn He was amazed. Now Simon, the one who amazed others, is himself amazed, showing the superiority of Philip’s connection to God. Christ is better than anything the culture has to offer.

[9:26]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:26]  ⁸ tn Or “join.”

[9:26]  ⁹ tn The participle πιστεύοντες (pisteuonte") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[10:43]  ¹⁰ tn Or “All the prophets testify about him.” Although modern English translations tend to place “about him” after “testify” (so NIV, NRSV) the phrase “about him” has been left at the beginning of v. 43 for emphatic reasons.

[10:43]  ¹¹ sn Forgiveness of sins. See Luke 24:47; also Acts 14:23; 19:4; 9:42; 11:17; 16:31. The gospel is present in the prophetic promise, Rom 1:1-7. The message is in continuity with the ancient hope.

[13:39]  ¹³ sn This one refers here to Jesus.

[13:39]  ¹⁴ tn Or “is freed.” The translation of δικαιωθῆναι (dikaiwqhnai) and δικαιοῦται (dikaioutai) in Acts 13:38-39 is difficult. BDAG 249 s.v. δικαιόω 3 categorizes δικαιωθῆναι in 13:38 (Greek text) under the meaning “make free/pure” but categorizes δικαιοῦται in Acts 13:39 as “be found in the right, be free of charges” (BDAG 249 s.v. δικαιόω 2.b.β). In the interest of consistency both verbs are rendered as “justified” in this translation.

[13:39]  ¹⁵ tn Or “could not free.”

[13:39]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” The passive construction has been converted to an active one in the translation, with “by the law of Moses” becoming the subject of the final clause. The words “from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you” are part of v. 38 in the Greek text, but due to English style and word order must be placed in v. 39 in the translation.

[13:48]  ¹⁶ tn The imperfect verb ἔχαιρον (ecairon) and the following ἐδόξαζον (edoxazon) are translated as ingressive imperfects.

[13:48]  ¹⁷ tn Or “glorify.” Although “honor” is given by BDAG 258 s.v. δοξάζω as a translation, it would be misleading here, because the meaning is “to honor in the sense of attributing worth to something,” while in contemporary English usage one speaks of “honoring” a contract in the sense of keeping its stipulations. It is not a synonym for “obey” in this context (“obey the word of the Lord”), but that is how many English readers would understand it.

[13:48]  ¹⁸ sn Note the contrast to v. 46 in regard to eternal life.

[14:1]  ¹⁹ sn Iconium. See the note in 13:51.

[14:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:1]  ²¹ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[14:1]  ²² tn Or “that a large crowd.”

[15:5]  ²² sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

[15:5]  ²³ sn The Greek word used here (δεῖ, dei) is a strong term that expresses divine necessity. The claim is that God commanded the circumcision of Gentiles.

[15:5]  ²⁴ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the Gentiles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “keep.”

[17:34]  ²⁵ tn Although the Greek word here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which normally refers to males, husbands, etc., in this particular context it must have a generic force similar to that of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), since “a woman named Damaris” is mentioned specifically as being part of this group (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. ἀνήρ 1.a).

[17:34]  ²⁶ tn Grk “joining him, believed.” The participle κολληθέντες (kollhqente") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. On the use of this verb in Acts, see 5:13; 8:29; 9:26; 10:28.

[17:34]  ²⁷ tn Grk “among whom.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been translated as a third person plural pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[17:34]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the Areopagite” (a member of the council of the Areopagus). The noun “Areopagite” is not in common usage today in English. It is clearer to use a descriptive phrase “a member of the Areopagus” (L&N 11.82). However, this phrase alone can be misleading in English: “Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris” could be understood to refer to three people (Dionysius, an unnamed member of the Areopagus, and Damaris) rather than only two. Converting the descriptive phrase to a relative clause in English (“who was a member of the Areopagus”) removes the ambiguity.

[17:34]  ²⁹ tn Grk “and a woman”; but this 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.

[19:2]  ²⁸ tn The participle πιστεύσαντες (pisteusante") is taken temporally.

[19:2]  ²⁹ tn Grk “they [said] to him” (the word “said” is implied in the Greek text).

[19:2]  ³⁰ tn This use of ἀλλά (alla) is ascensive and involves an ellipsis (BDAG 45 s.v. ἀλλά 3): “No, [not only did we not receive the Spirit,] but also we have not heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” However, this is lengthy and somewhat awkward in English, and the ascensive meaning can be much more easily represented by including the word “even” after the negation. Apparently these disciples were unaware of the provision of the Spirit that is represented in baptism. The language sounds like they did not know about a Holy Spirit, but this seems to be only linguistic shorthand for not knowing about the Spirit’s presence (Luke 3:15-18). The situation is parallel to that of Apollos. Apollos and these disciples represent those who “complete” their transition to messianic faith as Jews.

[21:25]  ³¹ tn L&N 13.154 has “‘having decided that they must keep themselves from food offered to idols, from blood, from an animal that has been strangled, and from sexual immorality’ Ac 21:25.”

[21:25]  ³² tn This is a different Greek word than the one used in Acts 15:20, 29. BDAG 1068 s.v. φυλάσσω 3 has “to be on one’s guard against, look out for, avoid…w. acc. of pers. or thing avoided…Ac 21:25.” The Greek word used in Acts 15:20, 29 is ἀπέχω (apecw). The difference in meaning, although slight, has been maintained in the translation.

[21:25]  ³³ tn There is no specific semantic component in the Greek word εἰδωλόθυτος that means “meat” (see BDAG 280 s.v. εἰδωλόθυτος; L&N 5.15). The stem –θυτος means “sacrifice” (referring to an animal sacrificially killed) and thereby implies meat.

[21:25]  ³⁴ sn What has been strangled. That is, to refrain from eating animals that had been killed without having the blood drained from them. According to the Mosaic law (Lev 17:13-14) Jews were forbidden to eat flesh with the blood still in it (note the preceding provision in this verse, and blood).

[22:19]  ³⁴ tn Grk “And I said.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai, in καγώ [kagw]) has not been translated here.

[22:19]  ³⁵ tn For the distributive sense of the expression κατὰ τὰς συναγωγάς (kata ta" sunagwga") BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d has “of places viewed serially, distributive use w. acc.…κατ᾿ οἶκαν from house to house…Ac 2:46b; 5:42…Likew. the pl.…κ. τὰς συναγωγάς 22:19.” See also L&N 37.114.