Leviticus 10:3

10:3 Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke: ‘Among the ones close to me I will show myself holy, ¹  and in the presence of all the people I will be honored.’” ²  So Aaron kept silent.

Numbers 18:5

18:5 You will be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the care of the altar, so that there will be ³  no more wrath on the Israelites.

Numbers 18:2

18:2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join ⁴  with you and minister to you while ⁵  you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

Numbers 29:11

29:11 along with one male goat for a purification offering, in addition to the purification offering for atonement and the continual burnt offering with its grain offering and their drink offerings.

Ezekiel 44:23-24

44:23 Moreover, they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the ceremonially unclean and the clean. ⁶ 

44:24 “‘In a controversy they will act as judges; ⁷  they will judge according to my ordinances. They will keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals and will observe ⁸  my Sabbaths.

Acts 20:28

20:28 Watch out for ⁹  yourselves and for all the flock of which ¹⁰  the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, ¹¹  to shepherd the church of God ¹²  that he obtained ¹³  with the blood of his own Son. ¹⁴ 

Acts 20:1

Paul Travels Through Macedonia and Greece

20:1 After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging ¹⁵  them and saying farewell, ¹⁶  he left to go to Macedonia. ¹⁷ 

Acts 4:16

4:16 saying, “What should we do with these men? For it is plain ¹⁸  to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign ¹⁹  has come about through them, ²⁰  and we cannot deny it.

Acts 4:1

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ²¹  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ²²  of the temple guard ²³  and the Sadducees ²⁴  came up ²⁵  to them,

Acts 6:11-14

6:11 Then they secretly instigated ²⁶  some men to say, “We have heard this man ²⁷  speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 6:12 They incited the people, the ²⁸  elders, and the experts in the law; ²⁹  then they approached Stephen, ³⁰  seized him, and brought him before the council. ³¹  6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ³²  and the law. ³³  6:14 For we have heard him saying that Jesus the Nazarene will destroy this place and change the customs ³⁴  that Moses handed down to us.”

Acts 6:1-2

The Appointment of the First Seven Deacons

6:1 Now in those ³⁵  days, when the disciples were growing in number, ³⁶  a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews ³⁷  against the native Hebraic Jews, ³⁸  because their widows ³⁹  were being overlooked ⁴⁰  in the daily distribution of food. ⁴¹  6:2 So the twelve ⁴²  called ⁴³  the whole group ⁴⁴  of the disciples together and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables. ⁴⁵ 

Acts 4:1-5

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ⁴⁶  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ⁴⁷  of the temple guard ⁴⁸  and the Sadducees ⁴⁹  came up ⁵⁰  to them, 4:2 angry ⁵¹  because they were teaching the people and announcing ⁵²  in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 4:3 So ⁵³  they seized ⁵⁴  them and put them in jail ⁵⁵  until the next day (for it was already evening). 4:4 But many of those who had listened to ⁵⁶  the message ⁵⁷  believed, and the number of the men ⁵⁸  came to about five thousand.

4:5 On the next day, ⁵⁹  their rulers, elders, and experts in the law ⁶⁰  came together ⁶¹  in Jerusalem. ⁶² 

[10:3]  ¹ tn The Niphal verb of the Hebrew root קָדַשׁ (qadash) can mean either “to be treated as holy” (so here, e.g., BDB 873 s.v. קָּדַשׁ, LXX, NASB, and NEB) or “to show oneself holy” (so here, e.g., HALOT 1073 s.v. קדשׁnif.1, NIV, NRSV, NLT; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:595, 601-3; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 133-34). The latter rendering seems more likely here since, in the immediate context, the Lord himself had indeed shown himself to be holy by the way he responded to the illegitimate incense offering of Nadab and Abihu. They had not treated the Lord as holy, so the Lord acted on his own behalf to show that he was indeed holy.

[10:3]  ² tn In this context the Niphal of the Hebrew root כָּבֵד (kaved) can mean “to be honored” (e.g., NASB and NIV here), “be glorified” (ASV, NRSV and NLT here), or “glorify oneself, show one’s glory” (cf. NAB; e.g., specifically in this verse HALOT 455 s.v. כבדnif.3; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:595, 603-4; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 126, 134). Comparing this clause with the previous one (see the note above), the point may be that when the Lord shows himself to be holy as he has done in 10:1-2, this results in him being honored (i.e., reverenced, feared, treated with respect) among the people. This suggests the passive rendering. It is possible, however, that one should use the reflexive rendering here as in the previous clause. If so, the passage means that the Lord showed both his holiness and his glory in one outbreak against Nadab and Abihu.

[18:5]  ³ tn The clause is a purpose clause, and the imperfect tense a final imperfect.

[18:2]  ⁴ sn The verb forms a wordplay on the name Levi, and makes an allusion to the naming of the tribe Levi by Leah in the book of Genesis. There Leah hoped that with the birth of Levi her husband would be attached to her. Here, with the selection of the tribe to serve in the sanctuary, there is the wordplay again showing that the Levites will be attached to Aaron and the priests. The verb is יִלָּווּ (yillavu), which forms a nice wordplay with Levi (לֵוִי). The tribe will now be attached to the sanctuary. The verb is the imperfect with a vav (ו) that shows volitive sequence after the imperative, here indicating a purpose clause.

[18:2]  ⁵ tn The clause is a circumstantial clause because the disjunctive vav (ו) is on a nonverb to start the clause.

[44:23]  ⁶ sn This task was a fundamental role of the priest (Lev 10:10).

[44:24]  ⁷ sn For a historical illustration of the priest carrying out this function, see 2 Chr 19:9-11.

[44:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “sanctify, set apart.”

[20:28]  ⁹ tn Or “Be on your guard for” (cf. v. 29). Paul completed his responsibility to the Ephesians with this warning.

[20:28]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in which.”

[20:28]  ¹¹ tn Or “guardians.” BDAG 379-80 s.v. ἐπίσκοπος 2 states, “The term was taken over in Christian communities in ref. to one who served as overseer or supervisor, with special interest in guarding the apostolic tradition…Ac 20:28.” This functional term describes the role of the elders (see v. 17). They were to guard and shepherd the congregation.

[20:28]  ¹² tc The reading “of God” (τοῦ θεοῦ, tou qeou) is found in א B 614 1175 1505 al vg sy; other witnesses have “of the Lord” (τοῦ κυρίου, tou kuriou) here (so Ì⁷⁴ A C* D E Ψ 33 1739 al co), while the majority of the later minuscule mss conflate these two into “of the Lord and God” (τοῦ κυρίου καὶ [τοῦ] θεοῦ, tou kuriou kai [tou] qeou). Although the evidence is evenly balanced between the first two readings, τοῦ θεοῦ is decidedly superior on internal grounds. The final prepositional phrase of this verse, διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου (dia tou {aimato" tou idiou), could be rendered “through his own blood” or “through the blood of his own.” In the latter translation, the object that “own” modifies must be supplied (see tn below for discussion). But this would not be entirely clear to scribes; those who supposed that ἰδίου modified αἵματος would be prone to alter “God” to “Lord” to avoid the inference that God had blood. In a similar way, later scribes would be prone to conflate the two titles, thereby affirming the deity (with the construction τοῦ κυρίου καὶ θεοῦ following the Granville Sharp rule and referring to a single person [see ExSyn 272, 276-77, 290]) and substitutionary atonement of Christ. For these reasons, τοῦ θεοῦ best explains the rise of the other readings and should be considered authentic.

[20:28]  ¹³ tn Or “acquired.”

[20:28]  ¹⁴ tn Or “with his own blood”; Grk “with the blood of his own.” The genitive construction could be taken in two ways: (1) as an attributive genitive (second attributive position) meaning “his own blood”; or (2) as a possessive genitive, “with the blood of his own.” In this case the referent is the Son, and the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. See further C. F. DeVine, “The Blood of God,” CBQ 9 (1947): 381-408.

[20:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “exhorting.”

[20:1]  ¹⁶ tn Or “and taking leave of them.”

[20:1]  ¹⁷ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[4:16]  ¹⁸ tn Or “evident.”

[4:16]  ¹⁹ 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. It is clear that the healing of the lame man was a miracle, but for the Sanhedrin it was the value of the miraculous healing as a sign that concerned them because it gave attestation to the message of Peter and John. The sign “speaks” as Peter claimed in 3:11-16.

[4:16]  ²⁰ tn Or “has been done by them.”

[4:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:1]  ²² tn Or “captain.”

[4:1]  ²³ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

[4:1]  ²⁴ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[4:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).

[6:11]  ²⁶ tn Another translation would be “they suborned” (but this term is not in common usage). “Instigate (secretly), suborn” is given by BDAG 1036 s.v. ὑποβάλλω.

[6:11]  ²⁷ tn Grk “heard him”; but since this is direct discourse, it is more natural (and clearer) to specify the referent (Stephen) as “this man.”

[6:12]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and the,” but 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.

[6:12]  ²⁹ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

[6:12]  ³⁰ tn Grk “approaching, they seized him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:12]  ³¹ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). Stephen suffers just as Peter and John did.

[6:13]  ³² sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

[6:13]  ³³ sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.

[6:14]  ³⁴ tn Or “practices.”

[6:1]  ³⁵ tn Grk “these.” The translation uses “those” for stylistic reasons.

[6:1]  ³⁶ tn Grk “were multiplying.”

[6:1]  ³⁷ tn Grk “the Hellenists,” but this descriptive term is largely unknown to the modern English reader. The translation “Greek-speaking Jews” attempts to convey something of who these were, but it was more than a matter of language spoken; it involved a degree of adoption of Greek culture as well.

[6:1]  ³⁸ tn Grk “against the Hebrews,” but as with “Hellenists” this needs further explanation for the modern reader.

[6:1]  ³⁹ sn The care of widows is a major biblical theme: Deut 10:18; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12-13; 27:19; Isa 1:17-23; Jer 7:6; Mal 3:5.

[6:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “neglected.”

[6:1]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “in the daily serving.”

[6:2]  ⁴² sn The twelve refers to the twelve apostles.

[6:2]  ⁴³ tn Grk “calling the whole group…together, said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενοι (proskalesamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[6:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “the multitude.”

[6:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “to serve tables.”

[4:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:1]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “captain.”

[4:1]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “the official of the temple,” a title for the commander of the Jewish soldiers guarding the temple (thus the translation, “the commander of the temple guard”). See L&N 37.91.

[4:1]  ⁴⁹ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[4:1]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).

[4:2]  ⁵¹ tn Or “greatly annoyed,” “provoked.”

[4:2]  ⁵² tn Or “proclaiming.”

[4:3]  ⁵³ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the logical sequence of events.

[4:3]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “they arrested”; Grk “they laid hands on.”

[4:3]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “prison,” “custody.”

[4:4]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “had heard.”

[4:4]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “word.”

[4:4]  ⁵⁸ tn In the historical setting it is likely that only men are referred to here. The Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr) usually refers to males or husbands rather than people in general. Thus to translate “of the people” would give a false impression of the number, since any women and children were apparently not included in the count.

[4:5]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “It happened that on the next day.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[4:5]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “and scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[4:5]  ⁶¹ tn Or “law assembled,” “law met together.”

[4:5]  ⁶² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.