Yesaya 1:9

1:9 If the Lord who commands armies ¹  had not left us a few survivors,

we would have quickly become like Sodom, ² 

we would have become like Gomorrah.

Yesaya 8:7-8

8:7 So look, the sovereign master ³  is bringing up against them the turbulent and mighty waters of the Euphrates River ⁴  – the king of Assyria and all his majestic power. It will reach flood stage and overflow its banks. ⁵  8:8 It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, ⁶  O Immanuel.” ⁷ 

Yesaya 10:5-6

The Lord Turns on Arrogant Assyria

10:5 Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, ⁸ 

a cudgel with which I angrily punish. ⁹ 

10:6 I sent him ¹⁰  against a godless ¹¹  nation,

I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry, ¹² 

to take plunder and to carry away loot,

to trample them down ¹³  like dirt in the streets.

Yesaya 10:22

10:22 For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as ¹⁴  the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back. ¹⁵  Destruction has been decreed; ¹⁶  just punishment ¹⁷  is about to engulf you. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 10:2

10:2 to keep the poor from getting fair treatment,

and to deprive ¹⁹  the oppressed among my people of justice,

so they can steal what widows own,

and loot what belongs to orphans. ²⁰ 

Kisah Para Rasul 17:18

17:18 Also some of the Epicurean ²¹  and Stoic ²²  philosophers were conversing ²³  with him, and some were asking, ²⁴  “What does this foolish babbler ²⁵  want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.” ²⁶  (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) ²⁷ 

Kisah Para Rasul 18:9-16

18:9 The Lord said to Paul by a vision ²⁸  in the night, ²⁹  “Do not be afraid, ³⁰  but speak and do not be silent, 18:10 because I am with you, and no one will assault ³¹  you to harm ³²  you, because I have many people in this city.” 18:11 So he stayed there ³³  a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. ³⁴ 

Paul Before the Proconsul Gallio

18:12 Now while Gallio ³⁵  was proconsul ³⁶  of Achaia, ³⁷  the Jews attacked Paul together ³⁸  and brought him before the judgment seat, ³⁹  18:13 saying, “This man is persuading ⁴⁰  people to worship God in a way contrary to ⁴¹  the law!” 18:14 But just as Paul was about to speak, ⁴²  Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, ⁴³  I would have been justified in accepting the complaint ⁴⁴  of you Jews, ⁴⁵  18:15 but since it concerns points of disagreement ⁴⁶  about words and names and your own law, settle ⁴⁷  it yourselves. I will not be ⁴⁸  a judge of these things!” 18:16 Then he had them forced away ⁴⁹  from the judgment seat. ⁵⁰ 

Kisah Para Rasul 18:2

18:2 There he ⁵¹  found ⁵²  a Jew named Aquila, ⁵³  a native of Pontus, ⁵⁴  who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius ⁵⁵  had ordered all the Jews to depart from ⁵⁶  Rome. ⁵⁷  Paul approached ⁵⁸  them,

Kisah Para Rasul 28:19

28:19 But when the Jews objected, ⁵⁹  I was forced to appeal to Caesar ⁶⁰  – not that I had some charge to bring ⁶¹  against my own people. ⁶² 

Roma 9:27

9:27 And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number of the children ⁶³  of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved,

[1:9]  ¹ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” The title pictures God as the sovereign king who has at his disposal a multitude of attendants, messengers, and warriors to do his bidding. In some contexts, like this one, the military dimension of his rulership is highlighted. In this case, the title pictures him as one who leads armies into battle against his enemies.

[1:9]  ² tc The translation assumes that כִּמְעָט (kim’at, “quickly,” literally, “like a little”) goes with what follows, contrary to the MT accents, which take it with what precedes. In this case, one could translate the preceding line, “If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors.” If כִּמְעָט goes with the preceding line (following the MT accents), this expression highlights the idea that there would only be a few survivors (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:20; H. Zobel, TDOT 8:456). Israel would not be almost like Sodom but exactly like Sodom.

[8:7]  ³ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[8:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the mighty and abundant waters of the river.” The referent of “the river” here, the Euphrates River, has been specified in the translation for clarity. As the immediately following words indicate, these waters symbolize the Assyrian king and his armies which will, as it were, inundate the land.

[8:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “it will go up over all its stream beds and go over all its banks.”

[8:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the spreading out of his wings [will be over] the fullness of the breadth of your land.” The metaphor changes here from raging flood to predatory bird.

[8:8]  ⁷ sn The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment. Immanuel is addressed here as if he has already been born and will see the judgment occur. This makes excellent sense if his birth has just been recorded. There are several reasons for considering Immanuel and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz one and the same. 8:3 is a birth account which could easily be understood as recording the fulfillment of the birth prophecy of 7:14. The presence of a formal record/witnesses (8:1-2) suggests a sign function for the child (cf. 7:14). As in 7:14-16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (cf. 8:4). Both 7:17-25 and 8:7-8 speak of an Assyrian invasion of Judah which would follow the defeat of Israel/Syria. The major objection to this view is the fact that different names appear, but such a phenomenon is not without parallel in the OT (cf. Gen 35:18). The name Immanuel may emphasize the basic fact of God’s presence, while the name Maher focuses on the specific nature of God’s involvement. In 7:14 the mother is viewed as naming the child, while in 8:3 Isaiah is instructed to give the child’s name, but one might again point to Gen 35:18 for a precedent. The sign child’s age appears to be different in 8:4 than in 7:15-16, but 7:15-16 pertains to the judgment on Judah, as well as the defeat of Israel/Syria (cf. vv. 17-25), while 8:4 deals only with the downfall of Israel/Syria. Some argue that the suffixed form “your land” in 8:8 points to a royal referent (a child of Ahaz or the Messiah), but usage elsewhere shows that the phrase does not need to be so restricted. While the suffix can refer to the king of a land (cf. Num 20:17; 21:22; Deut 2:27; Judg 11:17, 19; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 11:22; Isa 14:20), it can also refer to one who is a native of a particular land (cf. Gen 12:1; 32:9; Jonah 1:8). (See also the use of “his land” in Isa 13:14 [where the suffix refers to a native of a land] and 37:7 [where it refers to a king].)

[10:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “Woe [to] Assyria, the club of my anger.” On הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) see the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[10:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “a cudgel is he, in their hand is my anger.” It seems likely that the final mem (ם) on בְיָדָם (bÿyadam) is not a pronominal suffix (“in their hand”), but an enclitic mem. If so, one can translate literally, “a cudgel is he in the hand of my anger.”

[10:6]  ¹⁰ sn Throughout this section singular forms are used to refer to Assyria; perhaps the king of Assyria is in view (see v. 12).

[10:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “impious”; NCV “separated from God.”

[10:6]  ¹² tn Heb “and against the people of my anger I ordered him.”

[10:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “to make it [i.e., the people] a trampled place.”

[10:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “are like.”

[10:22]  ¹⁵ sn The twofold appearance of the statement “a remnant will come back” (שְׁאָר יָשׁוּב, she’ar yashuv) in vv. 21-22 echoes and probably plays off the name of Isaiah’s son Shear-jashub (see 7:3). In its original context the name was meant to encourage Ahaz (see the note at 7:3), but here it has taken on new dimensions. In light of Ahaz’s failure and the judgment it brings down on the land, the name Shear-jashub now foreshadows the destiny of the nation. According to vv. 21-22, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that a remnant of God’s people will return; the bad news is that only a remnant will be preserved and come back. Like the name Immanuel, this name foreshadows both judgment (see the notes at 7:25 and 8:8) and ultimate restoration (see the note at 8:10).

[10:22]  ¹⁶ tn Or “predetermined”; cf. ASV, NASB “is determined”; TEV “is in store.”

[10:22]  ¹⁷ tn צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) often means “righteousness,” but here it refers to God’s just judgment.

[10:22]  ¹⁸ tn Or “is about to overflow.”

[10:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “rob” (ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV); KJV “take away the right from the poor.”

[10:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “so that widows are their plunder, and they can loot orphans.”

[10:2]  sn On the socio-economic background of vv. 1-2, see the note at 1:23.

[17:18]  ²¹ sn An Epicurean was a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus, who founded a school in Athens about 300 b.c. Although the Epicureans saw the aim of life as pleasure, they were not strictly hedonists, because they defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Along with this, they desired the avoidance of trouble and freedom from annoyances. They saw organized religion as evil, especially the belief that the gods punished evildoers in an afterlife. In keeping with this, they were unable to accept Paul’s teaching about the resurrection.

[17:18]  ²² sn A Stoic was a follower of the philosophy founded by Zeno (342-270 b.c.), a Phoenician who came to Athens and modified the philosophical system of the Cynics he found there. The Stoics rejected the Epicurean ideal of pleasure, stressing virtue instead. The Stoics emphasized responsibility for voluntary actions and believed risks were worth taking, but thought the actual attainment of virtue was difficult. They also believed in providence.

[17:18]  ²³ tn BDAG 956 s.v. συμβάλλω 1 has “converse, confer” here.

[17:18]  ²⁴ tn Grk “saying.”

[17:18]  ²⁵ tn Or “ignorant show-off.” The traditional English translation of σπερμολόγος (spermologo") is given in L&N 33.381 as “foolish babbler.” However, an alternate view is presented in L&N 27.19, “(a figurative extension of meaning of a term based on the practice of birds in picking up seeds) one who acquires bits and pieces of relatively extraneous information and proceeds to pass them off with pretense and show – ‘ignorant show-off, charlatan.’” A similar view is given in BDAG 937 s.v. σπερμολόγος: “in pejorative imagery of persons whose communication lacks sophistication and seems to pick up scraps of information here and there scrapmonger, scavenger…Engl. synonyms include ‘gossip’, ‘babbler’, chatterer’; but these terms miss the imagery of unsystematic gathering.”

[17:18]  ²⁶ tn The meaning of this phrase is not clear. Literally it reads “strange deities” (see BDAG 210 s.v. δαιμόνιον 1). The note of not being customary is important. In the ancient world what was new was suspicious. The plural δαιμονίων (daimoniwn, “deities”) shows the audience grappling with Paul’s teaching that God was working through Jesus.

[17:18]  ²⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:9]  ²⁸ sn Frequently in Acts such a vision will tell the reader where events are headed. See Acts 10:9-16 and 16:9-10 for other accounts of visions.

[18:9]  ²⁹ tn BDAG 682 s.v. νύξ 1.c has “W. prep. ἐν ν. at night, in the night…Ac 18:9.”

[18:9]  ³⁰ tn The present imperative here (with negation) is used (as it normally is) of a general condition (BDF §335).

[18:10]  ³¹ tn BDAG 384 s.v. ἐπιτίθημι 2 has “to set upon, attack, lay a hand on” here, but “assault” is a contemporary English equivalent very close to the meaning of the original.

[18:10]  ³² tn Or “injure.”

[18:11]  ³³ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[18:11]  ³⁴ tn See BDAG 326-27 s.v. ἐν 1.d. However, it is also possible that ἐν (en) followed by the dative here stands for the ordinary dative (“to them”).

[18:12]  ³⁵ sn Gallio was proconsul of Achaia from a.d. 51-52. This date is one of the firmly established dates in Acts. Lucius Junius Gallio was the son of the rhetorician Seneca and the brother of Seneca the philosopher. The date of Gallio’s rule is established from an inscription (W. Dittenberger, ed., Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum 2.3 no. 8). Thus the event mentioned here is probably to be dated July-October a.d. 51.

[18:12]  ³⁶ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

[18:12]  ³⁷ sn Achaia was a Roman province created in 146 b.c. that included the most important parts of Greece (Attica, Boeotia, and the Peloponnesus).

[18:12]  ³⁸ tn Grk “with one accord.”

[18:12]  ³⁹ tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), there is no need for an alternative translation here since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time.

[18:12]  sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a familiar item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city. So this was a very public event.

[18:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “inciting.”

[18:13]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “worship God contrary to.” BDAG 758 s.v. παρά C.6 has “against, contrary to” for Acts 18:13. The words “in a way” are not in the Greek text, but are a necessary clarification to prevent the misunderstanding in the English translation that worshiping God was in itself contrary to the law. What is under dispute is the manner in which God was being worshiped, that is, whether Gentiles were being required to follow all aspects of the Mosaic law, including male circumcision. There is a hint of creating public chaos or disturbing Jewish custom here since Jews were the ones making the complaint. Luke often portrays the dispute between Christians and Jews as within Judaism.

[18:14]  ⁴² tn Grk “about to open his mouth” (an idiom).

[18:14]  ⁴³ tn BDAG 902 s.v. ῥᾳδιούργημα states, “From the sense ‘prank, knavery, roguish trick, slick deed’ it is but a short step to that of a serious misdeed, crime, villainy…a serious piece of villainy Ac 18:14 (w. ἀδίκημα).”

[18:14]  ⁴⁴ tn According to BDAG 78 s.v. ἀνέχω 3 this is a legal technical term: “Legal t.t. κατὰ λόγον ἂν ἀνεσχόμην ὑμῶν I would have been justified in accepting your complaint Ac 18:14.”

[18:14]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “accepting your complaint, O Jews.”

[18:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “dispute.”

[18:15]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “see to it” (an idiom).

[18:15]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “I am not willing to be.” Gallio would not adjudicate their religious dispute.

[18:16]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “driven away,” but this could result in a misunderstanding in English (“driven” as in a cart or wagon?). “Forced away” conveys the idea; Gallio rejected their complaint. In contemporary English terminology the case was “thrown out of court.” The verb ἀπήλασεν (aphlasen) has been translated as a causative since Gallio probably did not perform this action in person, but ordered his aides or officers to remove the plaintiffs.

[18:16]  ⁵⁰ sn See the note on the term judgment seat in 18:12.

[18:2]  ⁵¹ 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. The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[18:2]  ⁵² tn Grk “finding.” The participle εὑρών (Jeurwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:2]  ⁵³ sn On Aquila and his wife Priscilla see also Acts 18:18, 26; Rom 16:3-4; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 Tim 4:19. In the NT “Priscilla” and “Prisca” are the same person. This author uses the full name Priscilla, while Paul uses the diminutive form Prisca.

[18:2]  ⁵⁴ sn Pontus was a region in the northeastern part of Asia Minor. It was a Roman province.

[18:2]  ⁵⁵ sn Claudius refers to the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus, known as Claudius, who ruled from a.d. 41-54. The edict expelling the Jews from Rome was issued in a.d. 49 (Suetonius, Claudius 25.4).

[18:2]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “to leave.”

[18:2]  ⁵⁷ map For location see JP4 A1.

[18:2]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “went to.”

[28:19]  ⁵⁹ tn That is, objected to my release.

[28:19]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[28:19]  ⁶¹ tn BDAG 533 s.v. κατηγορέω 1 states, “nearly always as legal t.t.: bring charges in court.” L&N 33.427 states for κατηγορέω, “to bring serious charges or accusations against someone, with the possible connotation of a legal or court context – ‘to accuse, to bring charges.’”

[28:19]  ⁶² tn Or “my own nation.”

[9:27]  ⁶³ tn Grk “sons.”