Acts 9:15

9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument ¹  to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. ² 

Isaiah 52:15

52:15 his form was so marred he no longer looked human ³  –

so now ⁴  he will startle ⁵  many nations.

Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, ⁶ 

for they will witness something unannounced to them,

and they will understand something they had not heard about.

Matthew 10:18

10:18 And you will be brought before governors and kings ⁷  because of me, as a witness to them and the Gentiles.

Luke 21:12

21:12 But before all this, ⁸  they will seize ⁹  you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues ¹⁰  and prisons. You ¹¹  will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.

[9:15]  ¹ tn Or “tool.”

[9:15]  ² tn Grk “the sons of Israel.” In Acts, Paul is a minister to all nations, including Israel (Rom 1:16-17).

[52:15]  ³ tn Heb “and his form from the sons of men.” The preposition מִן (min) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.”

[52:15]  ⁴ tn This statement completes the sentence begun in v. 14a. The introductory כֵּן (ken) answers to the introductory כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher) of v. 14a. Verses 14b-15a are parenthetical, explaining why many were horrified.

[52:15]  ⁵ tn Traditionally the verb יַזֶּה (yazzeh, a Hiphil stem) has been understood as a causative of נָזָה (nazah, “spurt, spatter”) and translated “sprinkle.” In this case the passage pictures the servant as a priest who “sprinkles” (or spiritually cleanses) the nations. Though the verb נָזָה does occur in the Hiphil with the meaning “sprinkle,” the usual interpretation is problematic. In all other instances where the object or person sprinkled is indicated, the verb is combined with a preposition. This is not the case in Isaiah 52:15, unless one takes the following עָלָיו (’alayv, “on him”) with the preceding line. But then one would have to emend the verb to a plural, make the nations the subject of the verb “sprinkle,” and take the servant as the object. Consequently some interpreters doubt the cultic idea of “sprinkling” is present here. Some emend the text; others propose a homonymic root meaning “spring, leap,” which in the Hiphil could mean “cause to leap, startle” and would fit the parallelism of the verse nicely.

[52:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “Because of him kings will shut their mouths,” i.e., be speechless.

[10:18]  ⁷ sn These statements look at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of courts and synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to governors and kings suggests. Some fulfillment of Jewish persecution can be seen in Acts.

[21:12]  ⁸ sn But before all this. Another note of timing is present, this one especially important in understanding the sequence in the discourse. Before the things noted in vv. 8-11 are the events of vv. 12-19.

[21:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “will lay their hands on you.”

[21:12]  ¹⁰ sn Some of the persecution is of Jewish origin (the synagogues). Some fulfillment of this can be seen in Acts. See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[21:12]  ¹¹ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.