Acts 7:1-21

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 7:1 tn Grk “If it is so concerning these things” (see BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.a for this use).
2. Acts 7:2 tn Grk “said.”
3. Acts 7:2 tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”
4. Acts 7:3 sn A quotation from Gen 12:1.
5. Acts 7:4 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6. Acts 7:4 tn The translation “made him move” for the verb μετοικίζω (metoikizō) is given by L&N 85.83. The verb has the idea of “resettling” someone (BDAG 643 s.v.); see v. 43, where it reappears.
7. Acts 7:5 tn Grk “And he.” 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.
8. Acts 7:5 tn Grk “He did not give him an inheritance in it.” This could be understood to mean that God did not give something else to Abraham as an inheritance while he was living there. The point of the text is that God did not give any of the land to him as an inheritance, and the translation makes this clear.
9. Acts 7:5 tn Grk “a step of a foot” (cf. Deut 2:5).
10. Acts 7:5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11. Acts 7:5 sn An allusion to Gen 12:7; 13:15; 15:2, 18; 17:8; 24:7; 48:4. On the theological importance of the promise and to his descendants after him, see Rom 4 and Gal 3.
12. Acts 7:5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13. Acts 7:6 tn Grk “that his”; the discourse switches from indirect to direct with the following verbs. For consistency the entire quotation is treated as second person direct discourse in the translation.
14. Acts 7:6 tn Or “will be strangers,” that is, one who lives as a noncitizen of a foreign country.
15. Acts 7:6 sn A quotation from Gen 15:13. Exod 12:40 specifies the sojourn as 430 years.
16. Acts 7:7 tn BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α states, “Oft. the emphasis is unmistakably laid upon that which follows the Divine Judge’s verdict, upon the condemnation or punishment: condemn, punish…Ac 7:7 (Gen 15:14).”
17. Acts 7:7 tn The words “of there” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.sn A quotation from Gen 15:14.
18. Acts 7:7 tn Or “and serve,” but with religious/cultic overtones (BDAG 587 s.v. λατρεύω).
19. Acts 7:7 sn An allusion to Exod 3:12.
20. Acts 7:8 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
21. Acts 7:8 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22. Acts 7:8 sn God gave…the covenant. Note how the covenant of promise came before Abraham’s entry into the land and before the building of the temple.
23. Acts 7:8 tn Grk “circumcised him on the eighth day,” but many modern readers will not understand that this procedure was done on the eighth day after birth. The temporal clause “when he was eight days old” conveys this idea more clearly. See Gen 17:11-12.
24. Acts 7:8 tn The words “became the father of” are not in the Greek text due to an ellipsis, but must be supplied for the English translation. The ellipsis picks up the verb from the previous clause describing how Abraham fathered Isaac.
25. Acts 7:8 sn The twelve patriarchs refers to the twelve sons of Jacob, the famous ancestors of the Jewish race (see Gen 35:23-26).
26. Acts 7:9 tn Grk “And the.” 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.
27. Acts 7:9 tn The meaning “sell” for the middle voice of ἀποδίδωμι (apodidōmi) is given by BDAG 110 s.v. 5.a. See Gen 37:12-36, esp. v. 28.
28. Acts 7:9 tn Though the Greek term here is καί (kai), in context this remark is clearly contrastive: Despite the malicious act, God was present and protected Joseph.
29. Acts 7:10 tn Or “appointed.” See Gen 41:41-43.
30. Acts 7:11 tn Grk “came upon all Egypt.”
31. Acts 7:11 tn Grk “and,” but logically causal.
32. Acts 7:11 sn Our. Stephen spoke of “our” ancestors (Grk “fathers”) in an inclusive sense throughout the speech until his rebuke in v. 51, where the nation does what “your” ancestors did, at which point an exclusive pronoun is used. This serves to emphasize the rebuke.
33. Acts 7:11 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
34. Acts 7:12 tn Or possibly “food,” since in a number of extrabiblical contexts the phrase σιτία καὶ ποτά (sitia kai pota) means “food and drink,” where solid food is contrasted with liquid nourishment (L&N 3.42).
35. Acts 7:12 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
36. Acts 7:12 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
37. Acts 7:13 tn BDAG 194 s.v. γένος 2. gives “family, relatives” here; another alternative is “race” (see v. 19).
38. Acts 7:14 tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
39. Acts 7:14 tn Or “Joseph had his father summoned” (BDAG 121 s.v. ἀποστέλλω 2.b).
40. Acts 7:14 tn Grk “souls” (here an idiom for the whole person).
41. Acts 7:15 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
42. Acts 7:15 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
43. Acts 7:16 tn “and they.”
44. Acts 7:16 sn See Gen 49:29-32.
45. Acts 7:17 tn Grk “But as the time for the fulfillment of the promise drew near that God had declared to Abraham.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged to improve English style. See vv. 6-7 above.
46. Acts 7:17 tn Grk “the people increased and multiplied.”
47. Acts 7:18 tn Or simply “did not know.” However, in this context the point is that the new king knew nothing about Joseph, not whether he had known him personally (which is the way “did not know Joseph” could be understood).
48. Acts 7:18 tn Grk “arose,” but in this context it clearly refers to a king assuming power.
49. Acts 7:18 sn A quotation from Exod 1:8.
50. Acts 7:19 tn According to L&N 88.147 it is also possible to translate κατασοφισάμενος (katasophisamenos) as “took advantage by clever words” or “persuaded by sweet talk.”
51. Acts 7:19 tn Or “race.”
52. Acts 7:19 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
53. Acts 7:19 tn Or “expose” (BDAG 303 s.v. ἔκθετος).
54. Acts 7:19 tn Grk “so that they could not be kept alive,” but in this context the phrase may be translated either “so that they would not continue to live,” or “so that they would die” (L&N 23.89).
55. Acts 7:20 tn Or “was well-formed before God,” or “was well-pleasing to God” (BDAG 145 s.v. ἀστεῖος suggests the meaning is more like “well-bred” as far as God was concerned; see Exod 2:2).
56. Acts 7:20 tn Grk “who was brought up for three months.” The continuation of the sentence as a relative clause is awkward in English, so a new sentence was started in the translation by changing the relative pronoun to a regular pronoun (“he”).
57. Acts 7:21 tn Or “exposed” (see v. 19).
58. Acts 7:21 tn Grk “Pharaoh’s daughter took him up for herself.” According to BDAG 64 s.v. ἀναιρέω, “The pap. exx. involve exposed children taken up and reared as slaves…The rendering ‘adopt’ lacks philological precision and can be used only in a loose sense (as NRSV), esp. when Gr-Rom. terminology relating to adoption procedures is taken into account.” In this instance both the immediate context and the OT account (Exod 2:3-10) do support the normal sense of the English word “adopt,” although it should not be understood to refer to a technical, legal event.
59. Acts 7:21 tn Or “and reared him” (BDAG 74 s.v. ἀνατρέφω b).