Acts 5:1-16

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 5:2 tn Grk “And he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
2. Acts 5:2 tn The participle ἐνέγκας (enenkas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
3. Acts 5:3 sn This is a good example of the Greek verb fill (πληρόω, plēroō) meaning “to exercise control over someone’s thought and action” (cf. Eph 5:18).
4. Acts 5:3 tn The words “from the sale of” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied to clarify the meaning, since the phrase “proceeds from the land” could possibly be understood as crops rather than money from the sale.
5. Acts 5:4 tn Grk “Remaining to you.”
6. Acts 5:4 tn The negative interrogative particle οὐχί (ouchi) expects a positive reply to this question and the following one (“And when it was sold, was it not at your disposal?”).
7. Acts 5:4 tn Grk “it”; the referent of the pronoun (the money generated from the sale of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8. Acts 5:4 tn Grk “How is it that you have [or Why have you] placed this deed in your heart?” Both of these literal translations differ from the normal way of expressing the thought in English.
9. Acts 5:4 tn Grk “to men.” If Peter’s remark refers only to the apostles, the translation “to men” would be appropriate. But if (as is likely) the action was taken to impress the entire congregation (who would presumably have witnessed the donation or been aware of it) then the more general “to people” is more appropriate, since the audience would have included both men and women.
10. Acts 5:5 tn Or “fear came on,” “fear seized”; Grk “fear happened to.”
11. Acts 5:6 tn Or “arose.”
12. Acts 5:6 tn The translation “wrapped up” for συνέστειλαν (sunesteilan) is suggested by L&N 79.119, but another interpretation is possible. The same verb could also be translated “removed” (see L&N 15.200), although that sense appears somewhat redundant and out of sequence with the following verb and participle (“carried him out and buried him”).
13. Acts 5:6 sn Buried. Same day burial was a custom in the Jewish world of the first century (cf. also Deut 21:23).
14. Acts 5:7 tn Grk “It happened that after an interval of about three hours.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
15. Acts 5:7 tn Grk “came in, not knowing.” The participle has been translated with concessive or adversative force: “although she did not know.” In English, the adversative conjunction (“but”) conveys this nuance more smoothly.
16. Acts 5:8 tn The words “the two of” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to indicate that the verb (ἀπέδοσθε, apedosthe) is plural and thus refers to both Ananias and Sapphira.
17. Acts 5:8 tn Grk “so much,” “as much as this.”
18. Acts 5:8 tn Grk “She”; the referent (Sapphira) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19. Acts 5:10 tn Grk “And at once.” 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.
20. Acts 5:11 tn Grk “And great.” 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.
21. Acts 5:11 tn Or “fear came on,” “fear seized”; Grk “fear happened to.”
22. Acts 5:11 sn This is the first occurrence of the term church (ἐκκλησία, ekklēsia) in Acts. It refers to an assembly of people.
23. Acts 5:12 tn The miraculous nature of these signs is implied in the context.
24. Acts 5:12 tn Grk “And by.” 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.
25. Acts 5:12 tn Or “With one mind.”
26. Acts 5:12 tn Or “colonnade”; Grk “stoa.”sn Solomon’s Portico was a covered walkway formed by rows of columns supporting a roof and open on the inner side facing the center of the temple complex. Located beside the Court of the Gentiles, it was a very public area.
27. Acts 5:13 tn Or “to associate with them.” The group was beginning to have a controversial separate identity. People were cautious about joining them. The next verse suggests that the phrase “none of the rest” in this verse is rhetorical hyperbole.
28. Acts 5:13 tn Or “the people thought very highly of them.”
29. Acts 5:14 tn Or “More and more believers were added to the Lord.”
30. Acts 5:15 tn This is a continuation of the preceding sentence in Greek, but because this would produce an awkward sentence in English, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.
31. Acts 5:16 sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
32. 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.
33. Acts 5:16 sn They were all being healed. Note how the healings that the apostles provided were comprehensive in their consistency.