Numbers 27:18-19

27:18 The Lord replied ¹  to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is such a spirit, ²  and lay your hand on him; ³  27:19 set him ⁴  before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community, and commission ⁵  him publicly. ⁶ 

Numbers 27:23

27:23 He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the Lord commanded, ⁷  by the authority ⁸  of Moses.

Deuteronomy 31:14

The Commissioning of Joshua

31:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The day of your death is near. Summon Joshua and present yourselves in the tent ⁹  of meeting ¹⁰  so that I can commission him.” ¹¹  So Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the tent of meeting.

Deuteronomy 31:23

31:23 and the Lord ¹²  commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will take the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.” ¹³ 

Matthew 28:18-20

28:18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, ¹⁴  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 28:19 Therefore go ¹⁵  and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶  28:20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, ¹⁷  I am with you ¹⁸  always, to the end of the age.” ¹⁹ 

Acts 1:2

1:2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, ²⁰  after he had given orders ²¹  by ²²  the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

Acts 20:25-31

20:25 “And now ²³  I know that none ²⁴  of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom ²⁵  will see me ²⁶  again. 20:26 Therefore I declare ²⁷  to you today that I am innocent ²⁸  of the blood of you all. ²⁹  20:27 For I did not hold back from ³⁰  announcing ³¹  to you the whole purpose ³²  of God. 20:28 Watch out for ³³  yourselves and for all the flock of which ³⁴  the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, ³⁵  to shepherd the church of God ³⁶  that he obtained ³⁷  with the blood of his own Son. ³⁸  20:29 I know that after I am gone ³⁹  fierce wolves ⁴⁰  will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 20:30 Even from among your own group ⁴¹  men ⁴²  will arise, teaching perversions of the truth ⁴³  to draw the disciples away after them. 20:31 Therefore be alert, ⁴⁴  remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning ⁴⁵  each one of you with tears.

Acts 20:1

Paul Travels Through Macedonia and Greece

20:1 After the disturbance had ended, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging ⁴⁶  them and saying farewell, ⁴⁷  he left to go to Macedonia. ⁴⁸ 

Acts 5:21

5:21 When they heard this, they entered the temple courts ⁴⁹  at daybreak and began teaching. ⁵⁰ 

Now when the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin ⁵¹  – that is, the whole high council ⁵²  of the Israelites ⁵³  – and sent to the jail to have the apostles ⁵⁴  brought before them. ⁵⁵ 

Acts 6:13

6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ⁵⁶  and the law. ⁵⁷ 

Acts 6:2

6:2 So the twelve ⁵⁸  called ⁵⁹  the whole group ⁶⁰  of the disciples together and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables. ⁶¹ 

Acts 4:1

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ⁶²  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ⁶³  of the temple guard ⁶⁴  and the Sadducees ⁶⁵  came up ⁶⁶  to them,

[27:18]  ¹ tn Or “said.”

[27:18]  ² sn The word “spirit” probably refers to the Holy Spirit, in which case it would be rendered “in whom is the Spirit.” This would likely be a permanent endowment for Joshua. But it is also possible to take it to refer to a proper spirit to do all the things required of such a leader (which ultimately is a gift from the Spirit of God). The Hebrew text simply says “in whom is a spirit.”

[27:18]  ³ sn This symbolic act would indicate the transfer of leadership to Joshua.

[27:19]  ⁴ tn This could be translated “position him,” or “have him stand,” since it is the causative stem of the verb “to stand.”

[27:19]  ⁵ tn The verb is the Piel perfect of צִוָּה (tsivvah, literally “to command”). The verb has a wide range of meanings, and so here in this context the idea of instructing gives way to a more general sense of commissioning for duty. The verb in sequence is equal to the imperfect of instruction.

[27:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “in their eyes.”

[27:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “spoke.”

[27:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “hand.”

[31:14]  ⁹ tc The LXX reads “by the door of the tent” in line with v. 10 but also, perhaps, as a reflection of its tendency to avoid over-familiarity with Yahweh and his transcendence.

[31:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “tent of assembly” (מוֹעֵד אֹהֶל, ’ohel mo’ed); this is not always the same as the tabernacle, which is usually called מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, “dwelling-place”), a reference to its being invested with God’s presence. The “tent of meeting” was erected earlier than the tabernacle and was the place where Yahweh occasionally appeared, especially to Moses (cf. Exod 18:7-16; 33:7-11; Num 11:16, 24, 26; 12:4).

[31:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will command him.”

[31:23]  ¹² tn Heb “he.” Since the pronoun could be taken to refer to Moses, the referent has been specified as “the Lord” in the translation for clarity. See also the note on the word “you” later in this verse.

[31:23]  ¹³ tc The LXX reads, “as the Lord promised them, and he will be with you.” This relieves the problem of Moses apparently promising to be with Joshua as the MT reads on the surface (“I will be with you”). However, the reading of the LXX is clearly an attempt to clarify an existing obscurity and therefore is unlikely to reflect the original.

[28:18]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “coming, Jesus spoke to them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn, “saying”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[28:19]  ¹⁵ tn “Go…baptize…teach” are participles modifying the imperative verb “make disciples.” According to ExSyn 645 the first participle (πορευθέντες, poreuqentes, “Go”) fits the typical structural pattern for the attendant circumstance participle (aorist participle preceding aorist main verb, with the mood of the main verb usually imperative or indicative) and thus picks up the mood (imperative in this case) from the main verb (μαθητεύσατε, maqhteusate, “make disciples”). This means that semantically the action of “going” is commanded, just as “making disciples” is. As for the two participles that follow the main verb (βαπτίζοντες, baptizontes, “baptizing”; and διδάσκοντες, didaskontes, “teaching”), these do not fit the normal pattern for attendant circumstance participles, since they are present participles and follow the aorist main verb. However, some interpreters do see them as carrying additional imperative force in context. Others regard them as means, manner, or even result.

[28:19]  ¹⁶ tc Although some scholars have denied that the trinitarian baptismal formula in the Great Commission was a part of the original text of Matthew, there is no ms support for their contention. F. C. Conybeare, “The Eusebian Form of the Text of Mt. 28:19,” ZNW 2 (1901): 275-88, based his view on a faulty reading of Eusebius’ quotations of this text. The shorter reading has also been accepted, on other grounds, by a few other scholars. For discussion (and refutation of the conjecture that removes this baptismal formula), see B. J. Hubbard, The Matthean Redaction of a Primitive Apostolic Commissioning (SBLDS 19), 163-64, 167-75; and Jane Schaberg, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (SBLDS 61), 27-29.

[28:20]  ¹⁷ tn The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has been translated here as “remember” (BDAG 468 s.v. 1.c).

[28:20]  ¹⁸ sn I am with you. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the prophecy that the Savior’s name would be “Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us,’” (1:23, in which the author has linked Isa 7:14 and 8:8, 10 together) and it ends with Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples forever. The Gospel of Matthew thus forms an inclusio about Jesus in his relationship to his people that suggests his deity.

[28:20]  ¹⁹ tc Most mss (A^c Θ Ë¹³ Ï it sy) have ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”) at the end of v. 20. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, no good reason exists for the omission of the particle in significant and early witnesses such as א A* B D W ˹ 33 al lat sa.

[1:2]  ²⁰ tn The words “to heaven” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied from v. 11. Several modern translations (NIV, NRSV) supply the words “to heaven” after “taken up” to specify the destination explicitly mentioned later in 1:11.

[1:2]  ²¹ tn Or “commands.” Although some modern translations render ἐντειλάμενος (enteilameno") as “instructions” (NIV, NRSV), the word implies authority or official sanction (G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:545), so that a word like “orders” conveys the idea more effectively. The action of the temporal participle is antecedent (prior) to the action of the verb it modifies (“taken up”).

[1:2]  ²² tn Or “through.”

[20:25]  ²³ tn Grk “And now, behold.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

[20:25]  ²⁴ tn Grk “all of you…will not see.” Greek handles its negation somewhat differently from English, and the translation follows English grammatical conventions.

[20:25]  ²⁵ sn Note how Paul’s usage of the expression proclaiming the kingdom is associated with (and intertwined with) his testifying to the good news of God’s grace in v. 24. For Paul the two concepts were interrelated.

[20:25]  ²⁶ tn Grk “will see my face” (an idiom for seeing someone in person).

[20:26]  ²⁷ tn Or “testify.”

[20:26]  ²⁸ tn Grk “clean, pure,” thus “guiltless” (BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a).

[20:26]  ²⁹ tn That is, “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible” (an idiom). According to L&N 33.223, the meaning of the phrase “that I am innocent of the blood of all of you” is “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible.” However, due to the length of this phrase and its familiarity to many modern English readers, the translation was kept closer to formal equivalence in this case. The word “you” is not in the Greek text, but is implied; Paul is addressing the Ephesian congregation (in the person of its elders) in both v. 25 and 27.

[20:27]  ³⁰ tn Or “did not avoid.” BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 2.b has “shrink from, avoid implying fear…οὐ γὰρ ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι I did not shrink from proclaiming Ac 20:27”; L&N 13.160 has “to hold oneself back from doing something, with the implication of some fearful concern – ‘to hold back from, to shrink from, to avoid’…‘for I have not held back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God’ Ac 20:27.”

[20:27]  ³¹ tn Or “proclaiming,” “declaring.”

[20:27]  ³² tn Or “plan.”

[20:28]  ³³ tn Or “Be on your guard for” (cf. v. 29). Paul completed his responsibility to the Ephesians with this warning.

[20:28]  ³⁴ tn Grk “in which.”

[20:28]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ tn Or “acquired.”

[20:28]  ³⁸ 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.

[20:29]  ³⁹ tn Grk “after my departure.”

[20:29]  ⁴⁰ tn That is, people like fierce wolves. See BDAG 167-68 s.v. βαρύς 4 on the term translated “fierce.” The battle that will follow would be a savage one.

[20:30]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “from among yourselves.”

[20:30]  ⁴² tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only rarely is used in a generic sense to refer to both males and females. Since Paul is speaking to the Ephesian elders at this point and there is nothing in the context to suggest women were included in that group (“from among your own group”), it is most likely Paul was not predicting that these false teachers would include women.

[20:30]  ⁴³ tn Grk “speaking crooked things”; BDAG 237 s.v. διαστρέφω 2 has “λαλεῖν διεστραμμένα teach perversions (of the truth) Ac 20:30.”

[20:31]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “be watchful.”

[20:31]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “admonishing.”

[20:1]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “exhorting.”

[20:1]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “and taking leave of them.”

[20:1]  ⁴⁸ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[5:21]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “the temple.” See the note on the same phrase in the preceding verse.

[5:21]  ⁵⁰ tn The imperfect verb ἐδίδασκον (edidaskon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[5:21]  ⁵¹ tn Or “the council” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[5:21]  ⁵² tn A hendiadys (two different terms referring to a single thing) is likely here (a reference to a single legislative body rather than two separate ones) because the term γερουσίαν (gerousian) is used in both 1 Macc 12:6 and Josephus, Ant. 13.5.8 (13.166) to refer to the Sanhedrin.

[5:21]  ⁵³ tn Grk “sons of Israel.”

[5:21]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “have them”; the referent (the apostles) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ⁵⁵ tn The words “before them” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[6:13]  ⁵⁶ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

[6:13]  ⁵⁷ 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.

[6:2]  ⁵⁸ sn The twelve refers to the twelve apostles.

[6:2]  ⁵⁹ 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]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “the multitude.”

[6:2]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “to serve tables.”

[4:1]  ⁶² tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:1]  ⁶³ tn Or “captain.”

[4:1]  ⁶⁴ 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]  ⁶⁵ 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]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).