Proverbs 14:5

14:5 A truthful witness ¹  does not lie,

but a false witness ²  breathes out lies. ³ 

Acts 20:21

20:21 testifying ⁴  to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. ⁵ 

Acts 20:26-27

20:26 Therefore I declare ⁶  to you today that I am innocent ⁷  of the blood of you all. ⁸  20:27 For I did not hold back from ⁹  announcing ¹⁰  to you the whole purpose ¹¹  of God.

Acts 26:16-20

26:16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance ¹²  as a servant and witness ¹³  to the things ¹⁴  you have seen ¹⁵  and to the things in which I will appear to you. 26:17 I will rescue ¹⁶  you from your own people ¹⁷  and from the Gentiles, to whom ¹⁸  I am sending you 26:18 to open their eyes so that they turn ¹⁹  from darkness to light and from the power ²⁰  of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share ²¹  among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

26:19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, ²²  I was not disobedient ²³  to the heavenly ²⁴  vision, 26:20 but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, ²⁵  and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, ²⁶  performing deeds consistent with ²⁷  repentance.

Acts 26:1

Paul Offers His Defense

26:1 So Agrippa ²⁸  said to Paul, “You have permission ²⁹  to speak for yourself.” Then Paul held out his hand ³⁰  and began his defense: ³¹ 

Acts 4:1-3

The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John

4:1 While Peter and John ³²  were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander ³³  of the temple guard ³⁴  and the Sadducees ³⁵  came up ³⁶  to them, 4:2 angry ³⁷  because they were teaching the people and announcing ³⁸  in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 4:3 So ³⁹  they seized ⁴⁰  them and put them in jail ⁴¹  until the next day (for it was already evening).

Acts 4:2

4:2 angry ⁴²  because they were teaching the people and announcing ⁴³  in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

Acts 3:3

3:3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple courts, ⁴⁴  he asked them for money. ⁴⁵ 

[14:5]  ¹ tn Heb “a witness of faithfulness.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “faithful witness” (so KJV, NRSV); TEV “reliable witness.”

[14:5]  ² tn Heb “a witness of falsehood.” The genitive functions in an attributive sense: “false witness.”

[14:5]  ³ sn This saying addresses the problem of legal testimony: A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness does lie – naturally. The first colon uses the verb כָּזַב (kazav, “to lie”) and the second colon uses the noun כָּזָב (kazav, “lie; falsehood”).

[20:21]  ⁴ tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 1 has “testify of, bear witness to (orig. under oath)…of repentance to Judeans and Hellenes Ac 20:21.”

[20:21]  ⁵ tc Several mss, including some of the more important ones (Ì⁷⁴ א Α C [D] E 33 36 323 945 1175 1241 1505 1739 pm and a number of versions), read Χριστόν (Criston, “Christ”) at the end of this verse. This word is lacking in B H L P Ψ 614 pm. Although the inclusion is supported by many earlier and better mss, internal evidence is on the side of the omission: In Acts, both “Lord Jesus” and “Lord Jesus Christ” occur, though between 16:31 and the end of the book “Lord Jesus Christ” appears only in 28:31, perhaps as a kind of climactic assertion. Thus, the shorter reading is to be preferred.

[20:26]  ⁶ tn Or “testify.”

[20:26]  ⁷ tn Grk “clean, pure,” thus “guiltless” (BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a).

[20:26]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Or “proclaiming,” “declaring.”

[20:27]  ¹¹ tn Or “plan.”

[26:16]  ¹² tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance.’”

[26:16]  ¹³ sn As a servant and witness. The commission is similar to Acts 1:8 and Luke 1:2. Paul was now an “eyewitness” of the Lord.

[26:16]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 719 s.v. ὁράω A.1.b states, “W. attraction of the relative ὧν = τούτων ἅ Lk 9:36; Ac 22:15. The attraction may be due to colloq. breviloquence in μάρτυρα ὧν τε εἶδες με ὧν τε ὀφθήσομαί σοι a witness to the things in which you saw me and to those in which I shall appear to you Ac 26:16b.”

[26:16]  ¹⁵ tc ‡ Some mss read “of the things in which you have seen me.” The accusative object με (me, “me”) is found after εἶδές (eide") in B C*^vid 614 945 1175 1505 1739 1891 2464 pc sy sa; it is lacking in Ì⁷⁴ א A C² E Ψ 096 Ï latt bo. The external evidence is relatively evenly divided, though there is a slight preference for the omission. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[26:17]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “rescuing.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle ἐξαιρούμενος (exairoumeno") has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 17.

[26:17]  ¹⁷ tn That is, from the Jewish people. Grk “the people”; the words “your own” have been supplied to clarify the meaning.

[26:17]  ¹⁸ tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is probably both the Jews (“your own people”) and the Gentiles, indicating the comprehensive commission Paul received.

[26:18]  ¹⁹ sn To open their eyes so that they turn… Here is Luke’s most comprehensive report of Paul’s divine calling. His role was to call humanity to change their position before God and experience God’s forgiveness as a part of God’s family. The image of turning is a key one in the NT: Luke 1:79; Rom 2:19; 13:12; 2 Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col 1:12; 1 Thess 5:5. See also Luke 1:77-79; 3:3; 24:47.

[26:18]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 352-53 s.v. ἐξουσία 2 states, “Also of Satan’s power Ac 26:18.” It is also possible to translate this “the domain of Satan” (cf. BDAG 353 s.v. 6)

[26:18]  ²¹ tn Or “and an inheritance.”

[26:19]  ²² sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[26:19]  ²³ sn I was not disobedient. Paul’s defense is that he merely obeyed the risen Jesus. He was arrested for obeying heavenly direction and preaching the opportunity to turn to God.

[26:19]  ²⁴ tn According to L&N 1.5, “In Ac 26:19 the adjective οὐράνιος could be interpreted as being related simply to the meaning of οὐρανός^a ‘sky,’ but it seems preferable to regard οὐράνιος in this context as meaning simply ‘from heaven’ or ‘heavenly.’”

[26:20]  ²⁵ tn BDAG 1093-94 s.v. χώρα 2.b states, “of the provincial name (1 Macc 8:3) ἡ χώρα τῆς ᾿Ιουδαίας Ac 26:20.”

[26:20]  ²⁶ sn That they should repent and turn to God. This is the shortest summary of Paul’s message that he preached.

[26:20]  ²⁷ tn BDAG 93 s.v. ἄξιος 1.b, “καρποὶ ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας fruits in keeping with your repentance…Lk 3:8; Mt 3:8. For this ἄ. τῆς μετανοίας ἔργα Ac 26:20.” Note how Paul preached the gospel offer and the issue of response together, side by side.

[26:1]  ²⁸ sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.

[26:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “It is permitted for you.”

[26:1]  ³⁰ tn Or “extended his hand” (a speaker’s gesture).

[26:1]  ³¹ tn Or “and began to speak in his own defense.”

[4:1]  ³² tn Grk “While they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:1]  ³³ tn Or “captain.”

[4:1]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ tn Or “approached.” This verb often denotes a sudden appearing (BDAG 418 s.v. ἐφίστημι 1).

[4:2]  ³⁷ tn Or “greatly annoyed,” “provoked.”

[4:2]  ³⁸ tn Or “proclaiming.”

[4:3]  ³⁹ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the logical sequence of events.

[4:3]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “they arrested”; Grk “they laid hands on.”

[4:3]  ⁴¹ tn Or “prison,” “custody.”

[4:2]  ⁴² tn Or “greatly annoyed,” “provoked.”

[4:2]  ⁴³ tn Or “proclaiming.”

[3:3]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[3:3]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “alms.” See the note on the word “money” in the previous verse.