Micah 3:8

3:8 But I ¹  am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives,

and have a strong commitment to justice. ² 

This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,

and Israel with its sin. ³ 

Zechariah 4:6

4:6 Therefore he told me, “These signify the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,’ ⁴  says the Lord who rules over all.”

Luke 10:19

10:19 Look, I have given you authority to tread ⁵  on snakes and scorpions ⁶  and on the full force of the enemy, ⁷  and nothing will ⁸  hurt you.

Luke 24:49

24:49 And look, I am sending you ⁹  what my Father promised. ¹⁰  But stay in the city ¹¹  until you have been clothed with power ¹²  from on high.”

Acts 1:8

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 ¹³  of the earth.”

Acts 6:8

Stephen is Arrested

6:8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and miraculous signs ¹⁴  among the people.

Acts 9:22

9:22 But Saul became more and more capable, ¹⁵  and was causing consternation ¹⁶  among the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving ¹⁷  that Jesus ¹⁸  is the Christ. ¹⁹ 

Acts 10:38

10:38 with respect to Jesus from Nazareth, ²⁰  that ²¹  God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power. He ²²  went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, ²³  because God was with him. ²⁴ 

Acts 10:1

Peter Visits Cornelius

10:1 Now there was a man in Caesarea ²⁵  named Cornelius, a centurion ²⁶  of what was known as the Italian Cohort. ²⁷ 

Colossians 2:4

2:4 I say this so that no one will deceive you through arguments ²⁸  that sound reasonable. ²⁹ 

[3:8]  ¹ sn The prophet Micah speaks here and contrasts himself with the mercenaries just denounced by the Lord in the preceding verses.

[3:8]  ² tn Heb “am full of power, the Spirit of the Lord, and justice and strength.” The appositional phrase “the Spirit of the Lord” explains the source of the prophet’s power. The phrase “justice and strength” is understood here as a hendiadys, referring to the prophet’s strong sense of justice.

[3:8]  ³ tn Heb “to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.” The words “this enables me” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:6]  ⁴ sn It is premature to understand the Spirit here as the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the Trinity), though the OT prepares the way for that NT revelation (cf. Gen 1:2; Exod 23:3; 31:3; Num 11:17-29; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 2 Kgs 2:9, 15, 16; Ezek 2:2; 3:12; 11:1, 5).

[10:19]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps, “trample on” (which emphasizes the impact of the feet on the snakes). See L&N 15.226.

[10:19]  ⁶ sn Snakes and scorpions are examples of the hostility in the creation that is defeated by Jesus. The use of battle imagery shows who the kingdom fights against. See Acts 28:3-6.

[10:19]  ⁷ tn Or “I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and [authority] over the full force of the enemy.” The second prepositional phrase can be taken either as modifying the infinitive πατεῖν (patein, “to tread”) or the noun ἐξουσίαν (exousian, “power”). The former is to be preferred and has been represented in the translation.

[10:19]  ⁸ tn This is an emphatic double negative in the Greek text.

[24:49]  ⁹ tn Grk “sending on you.”

[24:49]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the promise of my Father,” with τοῦ πατρός (tou patros) translated as a subjective genitive. This is a reference to the Holy Spirit and looks back to how one could see Messiah had come with the promise of old (Luke 3:15-18). The promise is rooted in Jer 31:31 and Ezek 36:26.

[24:49]  ¹¹ sn The city refers to Jerusalem.

[24:49]  ¹² sn Until you have been clothed with power refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What the Spirit supplies is enablement. See Luke 12:11-12; 21:12-15. The difference the Spirit makes can be seen in Peter (compare Luke 22:54-62 with Acts 2:14-41).

[1:8]  ¹³ tn Or “to the ends.”

[6:8]  ¹⁴ tn The miraculous nature of these signs is implied in the context. Here the work of miracles extends beyond the Twelve for the first time.

[9:22]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “was becoming stronger,” but this could be understood in a physical sense, while the text refers to Saul’s growing ability to demonstrate to fellow Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. The translation “to become capable” for ἐνδυναμόω (endunamow) is given in L&N 74.7, with this specific verse as an example.

[9:22]  ¹⁶ tn Or “was confounding.” For the translation “to cause consternation” for συγχέω (suncew) see L&N 25.221.

[9:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or “by showing for certain.”

[9:22]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “that this one”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:22]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Note again the variation in the titles used.

[10:38]  ²⁰ sn The somewhat awkward naming of Jesus as from Nazareth here is actually emphatic. He is the key subject of these key events.

[10:38]  ²¹ tn Or “how.” The use of ὡς (Jws) as an equivalent to ὅτι (Joti) to introduce indirect or even direct discourse is well documented. BDAG 1105 s.v. ὡς 5 lists Acts 10:28 in this category.

[10:38]  ²² tn Grk “power, who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he,” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.

[10:38]  ²³ tn The translation “healing all who were oppressed by the devil” is given in L&N 22.22.

[10:38]  ²⁴ sn See Acts 7:9.

[10:1]  ²⁵ sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). It was known as “Caesarea by the sea” (BDAG 499 s.v. Καισάρεια 2). Largely Gentile, it was a center of Roman administration and the location of many of Herod the Great’s building projects (Josephus, Ant. 15.9.6 [15.331-341]).

[10:1]  ²⁶ sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like Paul.

[10:1]  ²⁷ sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion (BDAG 936 s.v. σπεῖρα). The Italian Cohort has been identified as cohors II Italica which is known to have been stationed in Syria in a.d. 88.

[2:4]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 812 s.v. πιθανολογία states, “persuasive speech, art of persuasion (so Pla., Theaet. 162e) in an unfavorable sense in its only occurrence in our lit. ἐν πιθανολογίᾳ by specious arguments Col 2:4 (cp. PLips 40 III, 7 διὰ πιθανολογίας).”

[2:4]  ²⁹ sn Paul’s point is that even though the arguments seem to make sense (sound reasonable), they are in the end false. Paul is not here arguing against the study of philosophy or serious thinking per se, but is arguing against the uncritical adoption of a philosophy that is at odds with a proper view of Christ and the ethics of the Christian life.