Acts 8:2

8:2 Some ¹  devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation ²  over him. ³ 

Acts 10:2

10:2 He ⁴  was a devout, God-fearing man, ⁵  as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people ⁶  and prayed to God regularly.

Acts 13:16

13:16 So Paul stood up, ⁷  gestured ⁸  with his hand and said,

“Men of Israel, ⁹  and you Gentiles who fear God, ¹⁰  listen:

[8:2]  ¹ tn “Some” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[8:2]  ² sn Made loud lamentation. For someone who was stoned to death, lamentation was normally not allowed (m. Sanhedrin 6:6). The remark points to an unjust death.

[8:2]  ³ tn Or “mourned greatly for him.”

[10:2]  ⁴ tn In the Greek text this represents a continuation of the previous sentence. Because of the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[10:2]  ⁵ sn The description of Cornelius as a devout, God-fearing man probably means that he belonged to the category called “God-fearers,” Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 43-44, and Sir 11:17; 27:11; 39:27.

[10:2]  ⁶ tn Or “gave many gifts to the poor.” This was known as “giving alms,” or acts of mercy (Sir 7:10; BDAG 315-16 s.v. ἐλεημοσύνη).

[13:16]  ⁷ tn This participle, ἀναστάς (anasta"), and the following one, κατασείσας (kataseisa"), are both translated as adverbial participles of attendant circumstance.

[13:16]  ⁸ tn Or “motioned.”

[13:16]  ⁹ tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context involving an address to a synagogue gathering, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage, although it can also be argued that Paul’s remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

[13:16]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and those who fear God,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44.