Kisah Para Rasul 5:34-40

5:34 But a Pharisee ¹  whose name was Gamaliel, ²  a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up ³  in the council ⁴  and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. 5:35 Then he said to the council, ⁵  “Men of Israel, ⁶  pay close attention to ⁷  what you are about to do to these men. 5:36 For some time ago ⁸  Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He ⁹  was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and nothing came of it. ¹⁰  5:37 After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census, ¹¹  and incited people to follow him in revolt. ¹²  He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered. 5:38 So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, ¹³  it will come to nothing, ¹⁴  5:39 but if ¹⁵  it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found ¹⁶  fighting against God.” He convinced them, ¹⁷  5:40 and they summoned the apostles and had them beaten. ¹⁸  Then ¹⁹  they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.

Kisah Para Rasul 23:6-10

23:6 Then when Paul noticed ²⁰  that part of them were Sadducees ²¹  and the others Pharisees, ²²  he shouted out in the council, ²³  “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection ²⁴  of the dead!” 23:7 When he said this, ²⁵  an argument ²⁶  began ²⁷  between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 23:8 (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.) ²⁸  23:9 There was a great commotion, ²⁹  and some experts in the law ³⁰  from the party of the Pharisees stood up ³¹  and protested strongly, ³²  “We find nothing wrong ³³  with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 23:10 When the argument became ³⁴  so great the commanding officer ³⁵  feared that they would tear Paul to pieces, ³⁶  he ordered the detachment ³⁷  to go down, take him away from them by force, ³⁸  and bring him into the barracks. ³⁹ 

[5:34]  ¹ sn A Pharisee was a member of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[5:34]  ² sn Gamaliel was a famous Jewish scholar and teacher mentioned here in v. 34 and in Acts 22:3. He had a grandson of the same name and is referred to as “Gamaliel the Elder” to avoid confusion. He is quoted a number of times in the Mishnah, was given the highest possible title for Jewish teachers, Rabba (cf. John 20:16), and was highly regarded in later rabbinic tradition.

[5:34]  ³ tn Grk “standing up in the council, ordered.” The participle ἀναστάς (anasta") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[5:34]  ⁴ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[5:35]  ⁵ tn Grk “said to them”; the referent (the council) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:35]  ⁶ tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is highly unlikely that this is a generic usage, since Gamaliel was addressing the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high council, which would have been exclusively male.

[5:35]  ⁷ tn Or “men, be careful.”

[5:36]  ⁸ tn Grk “For before these days.”

[5:36]  ⁹ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he,” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point.

[5:36]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and they came to nothing.” Gamaliel’s argument is that these two insurrectionists were taken care of by natural events.

[5:37]  ¹¹ tn Or “registration.”

[5:37]  ¹² tn The verb ἀφίστημι (afisthmi) as a transitive means “cause to revolt” as used in Josephus, Ant. 8.7.5 (8.198), 20.5.2 (20.102); see BDAG 157 s.v. 1.

[5:38]  ¹³ tn Here ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[5:38]  ¹⁴ tn Or “it will be put to an end.”

[5:39]  ¹⁵ tn This is expressed in a first class condition, in contrast to the condition in v. 38b, which is third class. As such, v. 39 is rhetorically presented as the more likely option.

[5:39]  ¹⁶ tn According to L&N 39.32, the verb εὑρεθῆτε (Jeureqhte, an aorist passive subjunctive) may also be translated “find yourselves” – “lest you find yourselves fighting against God.” The Jewish leader Gamaliel is shown contemplating the other possible alternative about what is occurring.

[5:39]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “They were convinced by him.” This passive construction was converted to an active one (“He convinced them”) in keeping with contemporary English style. The phrase “He convinced them” is traditionally placed in Acts 5:40 by most English translations; the standard Greek critical text (represented by NA²⁷ and UBS⁴) places it at the end of v. 39.

[5:40]  ¹⁸ sn Had them beaten. The punishment was the “forty lashes minus one,” see also Acts 22:19; 2 Cor 11:24; Mark 13:9. The apostles had disobeyed the religious authorities and took their punishment for their “disobedience” (Deut 25:2-3; m. Makkot 3:10-14). In Acts 4:18 they were warned. Now they are beaten. The hostility is rising as the narrative unfolds.

[5:40]  ¹⁹ tn The word “Then” is supplied as the beginning of a new sentence in the translation. The construction in Greek has so many clauses (most of them made up of participles) that a continuous English sentence would be very awkward.

[23:6]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 200 s.v. γινώσκω 4 has “to be aware of someth., perceive, notice, realize”; this is further clarified by section 4.c: “w. ὅτι foll….Ac 23:6.”

[23:6]  ²¹ sn See the note on Sadducees in 4:1.

[23:6]  ²² sn See the note on Pharisee in 5:34.

[23:6]  ²³ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin” (the Sanhedrin was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[23:6]  ²⁴ tn That is, concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected. Grk “concerning the hope and resurrection.” BDAG 320 s.v. ἐλπίς 1.b.α states, “Of Israel’s messianic hope Ac 23:6 (ἐ. καὶ ἀνάστασις for ἐ. τῆς ἀν. [obj. gen] as 2 Macc 3:29 ἐ. καὶ σωτηρία).” With an objective genitive construction, the resurrection of the dead would be the “object” of the hope.

[23:7]  ²⁵ tn The participle εἰπόντος (eiponto") has been translated temporally.

[23:7]  ²⁶ tn Or “a dispute” (BDAG 940 s.v. στάσις 3).

[23:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “there came about an argument.” This has been simplified to “an argument began”

[23:8]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμφότεροι 2 has “all, even when more than two are involved…Φαρισαῖοι ὁμολογοῦσιν τὰ ἀ. believe in them all 23:8.” On this belief see Josephus, J. W. 2.8.14 (2.163); Ant. 18.1.3 (18.14).

[23:8]  sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[23:9]  ²⁹ tn Or “clamor” (cf. BDAG 565 s.v. κραυγή 1.a, which has “there arose a loud outcry” here, and Exod 12:30).

[23:9]  ³⁰ tn Or “and some scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

[23:9]  ³¹ tn Grk “standing up.” The participle ἀναστάντες (anastante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[23:9]  ³² tn Grk “protested strongly, saying.” L&N 39.27 has “διαμάχομαι: to fight or contend with, involving severity and thoroughness – ‘to protest strongly, to contend with.’…‘some scribes from the party of the Pharisees protested strongly’ Ac 23:9.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

[23:9]  ³³ sn “We find nothing wrong with this man.” Here is another declaration of innocence. These leaders recognized the possibility that Paul might have the right to make his claim.

[23:10]  ³⁴ tn This genitive absolute construction with the participle γινομένης (ginomenhs) has been taken temporally (it could also be translated as causal).

[23:10]  ³⁵ tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (ciliarco") literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militare, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.

[23:10]  ³⁶ tn Grk “that Paul would be torn to pieces by them.” BDAG 236 s.v. διασπάω has “of an angry mob μὴ διασπασθῇ ὁ Παῦλος ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν that Paul would be torn in pieces by them Ac 23:10.” The passive construction is somewhat awkward in English and has been converted to an equivalent active construction in the translation.

[23:10]  ³⁷ tn Normally this term means “army,” but according to BDAG 947 s.v. στράτευμα, “Of a smaller detachment of soldiers, sing. Ac 23:10, 27.” In the plural it can be translated “troops,” but it is singular here.

[23:10]  ³⁸ tn Or “to go down, grab him out of their midst.”

[23:10]  ³⁹ tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”