Mark 6:14

The Death of John the Baptist

6:14 Now ¹  King Herod ²  heard this, for Jesus’ ³  name had become known. Some ⁴  were saying, “John the baptizer ⁵  has been raised from the dead, and because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.”

Luke 4:24

4:24 And he added, ⁶  “I tell you the truth, ⁷  no prophet is acceptable ⁸  in his hometown.

John 4:44

4:44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) ⁹ 

Acts 3:22-23

3:22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must obey ¹⁰  him in everything he tells you. ¹¹  3:23 Every person ¹²  who does not obey that prophet will be destroyed and thus removed ¹³  from the people.’ ¹⁴ 

Acts 7:37-39

7:37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ¹⁵  ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’ ¹⁶  7:38 This is the man who was in the congregation ¹⁷  in the wilderness ¹⁸  with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, ¹⁹  and he ²⁰  received living oracles ²¹  to give to you. ²²  7:39 Our ²³  ancestors ²⁴  were unwilling to obey ²⁵  him, but pushed him aside ²⁶  and turned back to Egypt in their hearts,

Acts 7:51-52

7:51 “You stubborn ²⁷  people, with uncircumcised ²⁸  hearts and ears! ²⁹  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors ³⁰  did! 7:52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors ³¹  not persecute? ³²  They ³³  killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, ³⁴  whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! ³⁵ 

[6:14]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[6:14]  ² sn Herod was technically not a king, but a tetrarch, a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king. A tetrarch ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. In the NT, Herod, who ruled over Galilee, is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage rather than an official title.

[6:14]  ³ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:14]  ⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[6:14]  ⁵ tn While Matthew and Luke consistently use the noun βαπτίστης (baptisths, “the Baptist”) to refer to John, as a kind of a title, Mark prefers the substantival participle ὁ βαπτίζων (Jo baptizwn, “the one who baptizes, the baptizer”) to describe him (only twice does he use the noun [Mark 6:25; 8:28]).

[4:24]  ⁶ tn Grk “said,” but since this is a continuation of previous remarks, “added” is used here.

[4:24]  ⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[4:24]  ⁸ sn Jesus argues that he will get no respect in his own hometown. There is a wordplay here on the word acceptable (δεκτός, dektos), which also occurs in v. 19: Jesus has declared the “acceptable” year of the Lord (here translated year of the Lord’s favor), but he is not “accepted” by the people of his own hometown.

[4:44]  ⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[3:22]  ¹⁰ 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) and the following context (v. 23) makes it clear that failure to “obey” the words of this “prophet like Moses” will result in complete destruction.

[3:22]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Deut 18:15. By quoting Deut 18:15 Peter declared that Jesus was the eschatological “prophet like [Moses]” mentioned in that passage, who reveals the plan of God and the way of God.

[3:23]  ¹² tn Grk “every soul” (here “soul” is an idiom for the whole person).

[3:23]  ¹³ tn Or “will be completely destroyed.” In Acts 3:23 the verb ἐξολεθρεύω (exoleqreuw) is translated “destroy and remove” by L&N 20.35.

[3:23]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 18:19, also Lev 23:29. The OT context of Lev 23:29 discusses what happened when one failed to honor atonement. One ignored the required sacrifice of God at one’s peril.

[7:37]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to the sons of Israel.”

[7:37]  ¹⁶ sn A quotation from Deut 18:15. This quotation sets up Jesus as the “leader-prophet” like Moses (Acts 3:22; Luke 9:35).

[7:38]  ¹⁷ tn This term, ἐκκλησία (ekklhsia), is a secular use of the term that came to mean “church” in the epistles. Here a reference to an assembly is all that is intended.

[7:38]  ¹⁸ tn Or “desert.”

[7:38]  ¹⁹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:38]  ²⁰ tn Grk “fathers, who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he” and a new clause introduced by “and” was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.

[7:38]  ²¹ tn Or “messages.” This is an allusion to the law given to Moses.

[7:38]  ²² tc ‡ The first person pronoun ἡμῖν (Jhmin, “to us”) is read by A C D E Ψ 33 1739 Ï lat sy, while the second person pronoun ὑμῖν (Jumin, “to you”) is read by Ì⁷⁴ א B 36 453 al co. The second person pronoun thus has significantly better external support. As well, ὑμῖν is a harder reading in this context, both because it is surrounded by first person pronouns and because Stephen perhaps “does not wish to disassociate himself from those who received God’s revelation in the past, but only from those who misinterpreted and disobeyed that revelation” (TCGNT 307). At the same time, Stephen does associate himself to some degree with his disobedient ancestors in v. 39, suggesting that the decisive break does not really come until v. 51 (where both his present audience and their ancestors are viewed as rebellious). Thus, both externally and internally ὑμῖν is the preferred reading.

[7:39]  ²³ tn Grk “whom our.” The continuation of the sentence as a relative clause is awkward in English, so a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.

[7:39]  ²⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:39]  ²⁵ sn To obey. Again the theme of the speech is noted. The nation disobeyed the way of God and opted for Egypt over the promised land.

[7:39]  ²⁶ sn Pushed him aside. This is the second time Moses is “pushed aside” in Stephen’s account (see v. 27).

[7:51]  ²⁷ sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.

[7:51]  ²⁸ tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmhtoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.

[7:51]  ²⁹ tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)

[7:51]  ³⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ³¹ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[7:52]  ³² sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.

[7:52]  ³³ tn Grk “And they.” 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.

[7:52]  ³⁴ sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.

[7:52]  ³⁵ sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).