Luke 6:12-13

Choosing the Twelve Apostles

6:12 Now ¹  it was during this time that Jesus ²  went out to the mountain ³  to pray, and he spent all night ⁴  in prayer to God. ⁵  6:13 When ⁶  morning came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: ⁷ 

Acts 13:2

13:2 While they were serving ⁸  the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart ⁹  for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 13:2

13:2 While they were serving ¹⁰  the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart ¹¹  for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 3:1

Peter and John Heal a Lame Man at the Temple

3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time ¹²  for prayer, ¹³  at three o’clock in the afternoon. ¹⁴ 

[6:12]  ¹ tn Grk “Now it happened that in.” 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.

[6:12]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:12]  ³ tn Or “to a mountain” (εἰς τὸ ὅρος, eis to Joro").

[6:12]  ⁴ sn This is the only time all night prayer is mentioned in the NT.

[6:12]  ⁵ tn This is an objective genitive, so prayer “to God.”

[6:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:13]  ⁷ sn The term apostles is rare in the gospels, found only in Matt 10:2, possibly in Mark 3:14, and six more times in Luke (here plus 9:10; 11:49; 17:5; 22:14; 24:10).

[13:2]  ⁸ tn This term is frequently used in the LXX of the service performed by priests and Levites in the tabernacle (Exod 28:35, 43; 29:30; 30:20; 35:19; 39:26; Num 1:50; 3:6, 31) and the temple (2 Chr 31:2; 35:3; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:17, and many more examples). According to BDAG 591 s.v. λειτουργέω 1.b it is used “of other expression of religious devotion.” Since the previous verse described the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, it is probable that the term here describes two of them (Barnabas and Saul) as they were serving in that capacity. Since they were not in Jerusalem where the temple was located, general religious service is referred to here.

[13:2]  ⁹ tn Or “Appoint.”

[13:2]  ¹⁰ tn This term is frequently used in the LXX of the service performed by priests and Levites in the tabernacle (Exod 28:35, 43; 29:30; 30:20; 35:19; 39:26; Num 1:50; 3:6, 31) and the temple (2 Chr 31:2; 35:3; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:17, and many more examples). According to BDAG 591 s.v. λειτουργέω 1.b it is used “of other expression of religious devotion.” Since the previous verse described the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, it is probable that the term here describes two of them (Barnabas and Saul) as they were serving in that capacity. Since they were not in Jerusalem where the temple was located, general religious service is referred to here.

[13:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “Appoint.”

[3:1]  ¹² tn Grk “hour.”

[3:1]  ¹³ sn Going up to the temple at the time for prayer. The earliest Christians, being of Jewish roots, were still participating in the institutions of Judaism at this point. Their faith in Christ did not make them non-Jewish in their practices.

[3:1]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “at the ninth hour.” This is calculated from sunrise (Josephus, Ant. 14.4.3 [14.65]; Dan 9:21).