Isaiah 51:7

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law! ¹ 

Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;

don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!

Isaiah 51:12

51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. ² 

Why are you afraid of mortal men,

of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? ³ 

Matthew 10:28

10:28 Do ⁴  not be afraid of those who kill the body ⁵  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ⁶ 

Luke 12:4-7

12:4 “I ⁷  tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, ⁸  and after that have nothing more they can do. 12:5 But I will warn ⁹  you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing, ¹⁰  has authority to throw you ¹¹  into hell. ¹²  Yes, I tell you, fear him! 12:6 Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? ¹³  Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 12:7 In fact, even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; ¹⁴  you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Luke 21:12-19

21:12 But before all this, ¹⁵  they will seize ¹⁶  you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues ¹⁷  and prisons. You ¹⁸  will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 21:13 This will be a time for you to serve as witnesses. ¹⁹  21:14 Therefore be resolved ²⁰  not to rehearse ²¹  ahead of time how to make your defense. 21:15 For I will give you the words ²²  along with the wisdom ²³  that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 21:16 You will be betrayed even by parents, ²⁴  brothers, relatives, ²⁵  and friends, and they will have some of you put to death. 21:17 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. ²⁶  21:18 Yet ²⁷  not a hair of your head will perish. ²⁸  21:19 By your endurance ²⁹  you will gain ³⁰  your lives. ³¹ 

Acts 4:19-31

4:19 But Peter and John replied, ³²  “Whether it is right before God to obey ³³  you rather than God, you decide, 4:20 for it is impossible ³⁴  for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” 4:21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising ³⁵  God for what had happened. 4:22 For the man, on whom this miraculous sign ³⁶  of healing had been performed, ³⁷  was over forty years old.

The Followers of Jesus Pray for Boldness

4:23 When they were released, Peter and John ³⁸  went to their fellow believers ³⁹  and reported everything the high priests and the elders had said to them. 4:24 When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind ⁴⁰  and said, “Master of all, ⁴¹  you who made the heaven, the earth, ⁴²  the sea, and everything that is in them, 4:25 who said by the Holy Spirit through ⁴³  your servant David our forefather, ⁴⁴ 

‘Why do the nations ⁴⁵  rage, ⁴⁶ 

and the peoples plot foolish ⁴⁷  things?

4:26 The kings of the earth stood together, ⁴⁸ 

and the rulers assembled together,

against the Lord and against his ⁴⁹  Christ.’ ⁵⁰ 

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ⁵¹  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ⁵²  4:28 to do as much as your power ⁵³  and your plan ⁵⁴  had decided beforehand ⁵⁵  would happen. 4:29 And now, Lord, pay attention to ⁵⁶  their threats, and grant ⁵⁷  to your servants ⁵⁸  to speak your message ⁵⁹  with great courage, ⁶⁰  4:30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs ⁶¹  and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 4:31 When ⁶²  they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, ⁶³  and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak ⁶⁴  the word of God ⁶⁵  courageously. ⁶⁶ 

Acts 5:40-42

5:40 and they summoned the apostles and had them beaten. ⁶⁷  Then ⁶⁸  they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. 5:41 So they left the council rejoicing because they had been considered worthy ⁶⁹  to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. ⁷⁰  5:42 And every day both in the temple courts ⁷¹  and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news ⁷²  that Jesus was the Christ. ⁷³ 

Acts 5:1

The Judgment on Ananias and Sapphira

5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property.

Acts 2:2

2:2 Suddenly ⁷⁴  a sound ⁷⁵  like a violent wind blowing ⁷⁶  came from heaven ⁷⁷  and filled the entire house where they were sitting.

Acts 2:2

2:2 Suddenly ⁷⁸  a sound ⁷⁹  like a violent wind blowing ⁸⁰  came from heaven ⁸¹  and filled the entire house where they were sitting.

Acts 1:7-8

1:7 He told them, “You are not permitted to know ⁸²  the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts ⁸³  of the earth.”

Hebrews 13:6

13:6 So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and ⁸⁴  I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” ⁸⁵ 

Revelation 2:10

2:10 Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. The devil is about to have some of you thrown ⁸⁶  into prison so you may be tested, ⁸⁷  and you will experience suffering ⁸⁸  for ten days. Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself. ⁸⁹ 

[51:7]  ¹ tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”

[51:12]  ² tc The plural suffix should probably be emended to the second masculine singular (which is used in v. 13). The final mem (ם) is probably dittographic; note the mem at the beginning of the next word.

[51:12]  ³ tn Heb “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who [as] grass is given up?” The feminine singular forms should probably be emended to the masculine singular (see v. 13). They have probably been influenced by the construction אַתְּ־הִיא (’at-hi’) in vv. 9-10.

[10:28]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ⁵ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[10:28]  ⁶ sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[12:4]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:4]  ⁸ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[12:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “will show,” but in this reflective context such a demonstration is a warning or exhortation.

[12:5]  ¹⁰ sn The actual performer of the killing is not here specified. It could be understood to be God (so NASB, NRSV) but it could simply emphasize that, after a killing has taken place, it is God who casts the person into hell.

[12:5]  ¹¹ tn The direct object (“you”) is understood.

[12:5]  ¹² sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).

[12:6]  ¹³ sn The pennies refer to the assarion, a small Roman copper coin. One of them was worth one sixteenth of a denarius or less than a half hour’s average wage. Sparrows were the cheapest thing sold in the market. God knows about even the most financially insignificant things; see Isa 49:15.

[12:7]  ¹⁴ sn Do not be afraid. One should respect and show reverence to God (v. 5), but need not fear his tender care.

[21:12]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “will lay their hands on you.”

[21:12]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[21:13]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “This will turn out to you for [a] testimony.”

[21:14]  ²⁰ tn Grk “determine in your hearts.”

[21:14]  ²¹ tn This term could refer to rehearsing a speech or a dance. On its syntax, see BDF §392.2.

[21:15]  ²² tn Grk “a mouth.” It is a metonymy and refers to the reply the Lord will give to them.

[21:15]  ²³ tn Grk “and wisdom.”

[21:16]  ²⁴ sn To confess Christ might well mean rejection by one’s own family, even by parents.

[21:16]  ²⁵ tn Grk “and brothers and relatives,” but καί (kai) has not been translated twice here since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[21:17]  ²⁶ sn See Luke 6:22, 27; 1 Cor 1:25-31.

[21:18]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[21:18]  ²⁸ sn Given v. 16, the expression not a hair of your head will perish must be taken figuratively and refer to living ultimately in the presence of God.

[21:19]  ²⁹ sn By your endurance is a call to remain faithful, because trusting in Jesus is the means to life.

[21:19]  ³⁰ tc Some important Greek witnesses plus the majority of mss (א D L W Ψ Ë¹ Ï) read the aorist imperative κτήσασθε (kthsasqe) here, though some mss (A B Θ Ë¹³ 33 pc lat sa) read the future indicative κτήσεσθε (kthsesqe). A decision is difficult because the evidence is so evenly balanced, but the aorist imperative is the harder reading and better explains the rise of the other. J. A. Fitzmyer assesses the translation options this way: “In English one has to use something similar [i.e., a future indicative], even if one follows the [aorist imperative]” (Luke [AB], 2:1341); in the same vein, although this translation follows the aorist imperative, because of English requirements it has been translated as though it were a future indicative.

[21:19]  ³¹ tn Grk “your souls,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. In light of v. 16 that does not seem to be the case here. The entire phrase could be taken as an idiom meaning “you will save yourselves” (L&N 21.20), or (as in v. 18) this could refer to living ultimately in the presence of God.

[4:19]  ³² tn Grk “answered and said to them.”

[4:19]  ³³ tn Grk “hear,” but the idea of “hear and obey” or simply “obey” is frequently contained in the Greek verb ἀκούω (akouw; see L&N 36.14).

[4:20]  ³⁴ tn Grk “for we are not able not to speak about what we have seen and heard,” but the double negative, which cancels out in English, is emphatic in Greek. The force is captured somewhat by the English translation “it is impossible for us not to speak…” although this is slightly awkward.

[4:21]  ³⁵ tn Or “glorifying.”

[4:22]  ³⁶ tn Here σημεῖον (shmeion) has been translated as “miraculous sign” rather than simply “sign” or “miracle” since both components appear to be present in the context. See also the note on this word in v. 16.

[4:22]  ³⁷ tn Or “had been done.”

[4:23]  ³⁸ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity, since a new topic begins in v. 23 and the last specific reference to Peter and John in the Greek text is in 4:19.

[4:23]  ³⁹ tn Grk “to their own [people].” In context this phrase is most likely a reference to other believers rather than simply their own families and/or homes, since the group appears to act with one accord in the prayer that follows in v. 24. At the literary level, this phrase suggests how Jews were now splitting into two camps, pro-Jesus and anti-Jesus.

[4:24]  ⁴⁰ sn With one mind. Compare Acts 1:14.

[4:24]  ⁴¹ tn Or “Lord of all.”

[4:24]  ⁴² tn Grk “and the earth, and the sea,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before “the earth” and “the sea” since contemporary English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[4:25]  ⁴³ tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).

[4:25]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”

[4:25]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “Gentiles.”

[4:25]  ⁴⁶ sn The Greek word translated rage includes not only anger but opposition, both verbal and nonverbal. See L&N 88.185.

[4:25]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “futile”; traditionally, “vain.”

[4:26]  ⁴⁸ tn Traditionally, “The kings of the earth took their stand.”

[4:26]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[4:26]  ⁵⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 2:1-2.

[4:27]  ⁵¹ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ⁵² sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”

[4:28]  ⁵³ tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

[4:28]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

[4:28]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.

[4:29]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “Lord, take notice of.”

[4:29]  ⁵⁷ sn Grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage. The request is not for a stop to persecution or revenge on the opponents, but for boldness (great courage) to carry out the mission of proclaiming the message of what God is doing through Jesus.

[4:29]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “slaves.” See the note on the word “servants” in 2:18.

[4:29]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “word.”

[4:29]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “with all boldness.”

[4:30]  ⁶¹ tn The miraculous nature of these signs is implied in the context.

[4:31]  ⁶² 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.

[4:31]  ⁶³ sn The place where they were assembled…was shaken. This signifies that God is in their midst. See Acts 16:26; Exod 19:18; Ps 114:7; Isa 6:4.

[4:31]  ⁶⁴ tn The imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to speak”). Logical sequencing suggests that their speaking began after they were filled with the Spirit. The prayer was answered immediately.

[4:31]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “speak God’s message.”

[4:31]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “with boldness.”

[5:40]  ⁶⁷ sn Had them beaten. The punishment was the “forty lashes minus one,” see also Acts 22:19; 2 Cor 11:24; Mark 13:9. The apostles had disobeyed the religious authorities and took their punishment for their “disobedience” (Deut 25:2-3; m. Makkot 3:10-14). In Acts 4:18 they were warned. Now they are beaten. The hostility is rising as the narrative unfolds.

[5:40]  ⁶⁸ tn The word “Then” is supplied as the beginning of a new sentence in the translation. The construction in Greek has so many clauses (most of them made up of participles) that a continuous English sentence would be very awkward.

[5:41]  ⁶⁹ sn That is, considered worthy by God. They “gloried in their shame” of honoring Jesus with their testimony (Luke 6:22-23; 2 Macc 6:30).

[5:41]  ⁷⁰ sn The name refers to the name of Jesus (cf. 3 John 7).

[5:42]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper and has been translated accordingly.

[5:42]  ⁷² tn Grk “teaching and evangelizing.” They were still obeying God, not men (see 4:18-20; 5:29).

[5:42]  ⁷³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:2]  ⁷⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated for stylistic reasons. It occurs as part of the formula καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto) which is often left untranslated in Luke-Acts because it is redundant in contemporary English. Here it is possible (and indeed necessary) to translate ἐγένετο as “came” so that the initial clause of the English translation contains a verb; nevertheless the translation of the conjunction καί is not necessary.

[2:2]  ⁷⁵ tn Or “a noise.”

[2:2]  ⁷⁶ tn While φέρω (ferw) generally refers to movement from one place to another with the possible implication of causing the movement of other objects, in Acts 2:2 φέρομαι (feromai) should probably be understood in a more idiomatic sense of “blowing” since it is combined with the noun for wind (πνοή, pnoh).

[2:2]  ⁷⁷ tn Or “from the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context.

[2:2]  ⁷⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated for stylistic reasons. It occurs as part of the formula καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto) which is often left untranslated in Luke-Acts because it is redundant in contemporary English. Here it is possible (and indeed necessary) to translate ἐγένετο as “came” so that the initial clause of the English translation contains a verb; nevertheless the translation of the conjunction καί is not necessary.

[2:2]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “a noise.”

[2:2]  ⁸⁰ tn While φέρω (ferw) generally refers to movement from one place to another with the possible implication of causing the movement of other objects, in Acts 2:2 φέρομαι (feromai) should probably be understood in a more idiomatic sense of “blowing” since it is combined with the noun for wind (πνοή, pnoh).

[2:2]  ⁸¹ tn Or “from the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context.

[1:7]  ⁸² tn Grk “It is not for you to know.”

[1:8]  ⁸³ tn Or “to the ends.”

[13:6]  ⁸⁴ tc Some important mss (א* C* P 0285^vid 33 1175 1739 pc lat) lack καί (kai), but because the omission conforms to the wording of Ps 118:6 (117:6 LXX), it is suspect.

[13:6]  ⁸⁵ sn A quotation from Ps 118:6.

[2:10]  ⁸⁶ tn Grk “is about to throw some of you,” but the force is causative in context.

[2:10]  ⁸⁷ tn Or “tempted.”

[2:10]  ⁸⁸ tn Or “experience persecution,” “will be in distress” (see L&N 22.2).

[2:10]  ⁸⁹ tn Grk “crown of life,” with the genitive “of life” (τῆς ζωῆς, th" zwh") functioning in apposition to “crown” (στέφανον, stefanon): “the crown that consists of life.”