Acts 5:16-18

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 5:16 sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
2. Acts 5:16 tn Literally a relative pronoun, “who.” In English, however, a relative clause (“bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits, who were all being healed”) could be understood to refer only to the second group (meaning only those troubled by unclean spirits were being healed) or even that the unclean spirits were being healed. To avoid this ambiguity the pronoun “they” was used to begin a new English sentence.
3. Acts 5:16 sn They were all being healed. Note how the healings that the apostles provided were comprehensive in their consistency.
4. Acts 5:17 sn See the note on Sadducees in 4:1.
5. Acts 5:17 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
6. Acts 5:17 sn Filled with jealousy. In Acts, the term “jealousy” (ζήλος, zēlos) occurs only here and in Acts 13:45. It is a key term in Judaism for religiously motivated rage (1 Macc 2:24; 1QH 14:13-15; m. Sanhedrin 9:5). It was a zeal motivated by a desire to maintain the purity of the faith.
7. Acts 5:18 tn Grk “jealousy, and they.” In the Greek text this is a continuation of the previous sentence, but a new sentence has been started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8. Acts 5:18 tn Or “they arrested.”