Psalms 38:12-14

38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; ¹ 

those who want to harm me speak destructive words;

all day long they say deceitful things.

38:13 But I am like a deaf man – I hear nothing;

I am like a mute who cannot speak. ² 

38:14 I am like a man who cannot hear

and is incapable of arguing his defense. ³ 

Isaiah 53:7

53:7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, ⁴ 

but he did not even open his mouth.

Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,

like a sheep silent before her shearers,

he did not even open his mouth. ⁵ 

Daniel 3:16

3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, ⁶  “We do not need to give you a reply ⁷  concerning this.

Acts 8:32-35

8:32 Now the passage of scripture the man ⁸  was reading was this:

“He was led like a sheep to slaughter,

and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

so he did ⁹  not open his mouth.

8:33 In humiliation ¹⁰  justice was taken from him. ¹¹ 

Who can describe his posterity? ¹² 

For his life was taken away ¹³  from the earth.” ¹⁴ 

8:34 Then the eunuch said ¹⁵  to Philip, “Please tell me, ¹⁶  who is the prophet saying this about – himself or someone else?” ¹⁷  8:35 So Philip started speaking, ¹⁸  and beginning with this scripture ¹⁹  proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him.

Acts 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ²⁰  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ²¹  persecution began ²²  against the church in Jerusalem, ²³  and all ²⁴  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ²⁵  of Judea and Samaria.

Acts 2:23

2:23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed ²⁶  by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. ²⁷ 

[38:12]  ¹ tn Heb “lay snares.”

[38:13]  ² sn I am like a deaf man…like a mute. The psalmist is like a deaf mute; he is incapable of defending himself and is vulnerable to his enemies’ deception (see v. 14).

[38:14]  ³ tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”

[53:7]  ⁴ tn The translation assumes the Niphal is passive; another option is take the clause (note the subject + verb pattern) as concessive and the Niphal as reflexive, “though he humbled himself.”

[53:7]  ⁵ sn This verse emphasizes the servant’s silent submission. The comparison to a sheep does not necessarily suggest a sacrificial metaphor. Sheep were slaughtered for food as well as for sacrificial rituals, and טֶבַח (tevakh) need not refer to sacrificial slaughter (see Gen 43:16; Prov 7:22; 9:2; Jer 50:27; note also the use of the related verb in Exod 21:37; Deut 28:31; 1 Sam 25:11).

[3:16]  ⁶ tc In the MT this word is understood to begin the following address (“answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar’”). However, it seems unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar’s subordinates would address the king in such a familiar way, particularly in light of the danger that they now found themselves in. The present translation implies moving the atnach from “king” to “Nebuchadnezzar.”

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Aram “to return a word to you.”

[8:32]  ⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:32]  ⁹ tn Grk “does.” The present tense here was translated as a past tense to maintain consistency with the first line of the quotation (“he was led like a sheep to slaughter”), which has an aorist passive verb normally translated as a past tense in English.

[8:33]  ¹⁰ tc ‡ Most later mss (C E Ψ 33^vid Ï sy) read “In his humiliation,” adding αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) after ταπεινώσει (tapeinwsei, “humiliation”), while the earlier and better witnesses lack the pronoun (so Ì⁷⁴ א A B 1739 pc lat). However, the LXX of Isa 53:8 also lacks the pronoun, supplying motivation for scribes to omit it here. At the same time, scribes would also be motivated to add the pronoun both for clarity’s sake (note the similar impulse that led to the addition of δέ [de] by many of the same mss at the beginning of the next line) and to give balance to the lines (the pronoun is indisputably used five other times in vv. 32-33 in quoting Isa 53). On balance, the shorter reading is preferred.

[8:33]  ¹¹ tn Or “justice was denied him”; Grk “his justice was taken away.”

[8:33]  ¹² tn Or “family; or “origin.” The meaning of γενεά (genea) in the quotation is uncertain; BDAG 192 s.v. γενεά 4 suggests “family history.”

[8:33]  ¹³ tn Grk “is taken away.” The present tense here was translated as a past tense to maintain consistency with the rest of the quotation.

[8:33]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 53:7-8.

[8:34]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “answered and said.” The redundant participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqei") has not been translated.

[8:34]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “I beg you,” “I ask you.”

[8:34]  ¹⁷ sn About himself, or about someone else? It is likely in 1st century Judaism this would have been understood as either Israel or Isaiah.

[8:35]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “opening his mouth” (a Semitic idiom for beginning to speak in a somewhat formal manner). The participle ἀνοίξας (anoixa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[8:35]  ¹⁹ sn Beginning with this scripture. The discussion likely included many of the scriptures Acts has already noted for the reader in earlier speeches. At the least, readers of Acts would know what other scriptures might be meant.

[8:1]  ²⁰ tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

[8:1]  ²¹ tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ²² tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

[8:1]  ²³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ²⁴ sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

[8:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “countryside.”

[2:23]  ²⁶ tn Or “you killed.”

[2:23]  ²⁷ tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomo") refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.