Nehemiah 8:10-12

8:10 He said to them, “Go and eat delicacies and drink sweet drinks and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our Lord. ¹  Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

8:11 Then the Levites quieted all the people saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy. Do not grieve.” 8:12 So all the people departed to eat and drink and to share their food ²  with others ³  and to enjoy tremendous joy, ⁴  for they had gained insight in the matters that had been made known to them.

Acts 2:45-46

2:45 and they began selling ⁵  their property ⁶  and possessions and distributing the proceeds ⁷  to everyone, as anyone had need. 2:46 Every day ⁸  they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, ⁹  breaking bread from ¹⁰  house to house, sharing their food with glad ¹¹  and humble hearts, ¹² 

[8:10]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[8:12]  ² tn Heb “to send portions.”

[8:12]  ³ tn The Hebrew text does not include the phrase “with others” but it has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “to make great joy.”

[2:45]  ⁵ tn The imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive (“began…”). Since in context this is a description of the beginning of the community of believers, it is more likely that these statements refer to the start of various activities and practices that the early church continued for some time.

[2:45]  ⁶ tn It is possible that the first term for property (κτήματα, kthmata) refers to real estate (as later usage seems to indicate) while the second term (ὑπάρξεις, Juparxeis) refers to possessions in general, but it may also be that the two terms are used together for emphasis, simply indicating that all kinds of possessions were being sold. However, if the first term is more specifically a reference to real estate, it foreshadows the incident with Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11.

[2:45]  ⁷ tn Grk “distributing them” (αὐτά, auta). The referent (the proceeds of the sales) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:46]  ⁸ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.

[2:46]  ⁹ tn Grk “in the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[2:46]  ¹⁰ tn Here κατά (kata) is used as a distributive (BDAG 512 s.v. B.1.d).

[2:46]  ¹¹ sn The term glad (Grk “gladness”) often refers to joy brought about by God’s saving acts (Luke 1:14, 44; also the related verb in 1:47; 10:21).

[2:46]  ¹² tn Grk “with gladness and humbleness of hearts.” It is best to understand καρδίας (kardias) as an attributed genitive, with the two nouns it modifies actually listing attributes of the genitive noun which is related to them.