Acts 4:23-25

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 4:23 tn Grk “they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity, since a new topic begins in v. 23 and the last specific reference to Peter and John in the Greek text is in 4:19.
2. Acts 4:23 tn Grk “to their own [people].” In context this phrase is most likely a reference to other believers rather than simply their own families and/or homes, since the group appears to act with one accord in the prayer that follows in v. 24. At the literary level, this phrase suggests how Jews were now splitting into two camps, pro-Jesus and anti-Jesus.
3. Acts 4:24 sn With one mind. Cf. Acts 1:14.
4. Acts 4:24 tn Or “Lord of all.”sn The use of the title Master of all (δεσπότης, despotēs) emphasizes that there is a sovereign God who is directing what is taking place.
5. Acts 4:24 tn Grk “and the earth, and the sea,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before “the earth” and “the sea” since contemporary English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
6. Acts 4:25 tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).
7. Acts 4:25 tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”
8. Acts 4:25 tn Or “Gentiles.”
9. Acts 4:25 sn The Greek word translated rage includes not only anger but opposition, both verbal and nonverbal. See L&N 88.185.
10. Acts 4:25 tn Or “futile”; traditionally, “vain.”