11:17 Jehoiada then drew up a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, stipulating that they should be loyal to the Lord. 1
14:1 In the second year of the reign of Israel’s King Joash son of Joahaz, 2 Joash’s 3 son Amaziah became king over Judah.
11:2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “The only way I will make a treaty with you is if you let me gouge out the right eye of every one of you and in so doing humiliate all Israel!”
5:1 Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
12:1 About that time King Herod 6 laid hands on 7 some from the church to harm them. 8
12:20 Now Herod 9 was having an angry quarrel 10 with the people of Tyre 11 and Sidon. 12 So they joined together 13 and presented themselves before him. And after convincing 14 Blastus, the king’s personal assistant, 15 to help them, 16 they asked for peace, 17 because their country’s food supply was provided by the king’s country.
22:1 “Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense 19 that I now 20 make to you.”
26:1 So Agrippa 21 said to Paul, “You have permission 22 to speak for yourself.” Then Paul held out his hand 23 and began his defense: 24
1 tn Heb “and Jehoiada made a covenant between the
2 sn The name Joahaz is an alternate form of Jehoahaz.
3 sn The referent here is Joash of Judah (see 12:21), not Joash of Israel, mentioned earlier in the verse.
4 tn Heb “and there in Gilgal.”
5 tc The LXX adds “they entered the temple of Dagon and saw.”
6 sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great). His mediocre career is summarized in Josephus, Ant. 18-19. This event took place in
7 tn Or “King Herod had some from the church arrested.”
8 tn Or “to cause them injury.”
9 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Or “was extremely angry.” L&N 33.453 gives the meaning “be angry and quarrel, quarrel angrily” here. However, in L&N 88.180 the alternative “to be violently angry, to be furious” is given. The term is used only once in the NT (BDAG 461 s.v. θυμομαχέω).
11 sn Tyre was a city and seaport on the coast of Phoenicia.
12 sn Sidon was an ancient Phoenician royal city on the coast between Berytus (Beirut) and Tyre (BDAG 923 s.v. Σιδών).
13 tn Or “with one accord.”
14 tn Or “persuading.”
15 tn On the term translated “personal assistant” BDAG 554 s.v. κοιτῶν states, “used as part of a title: ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ κοιτῶνος the one in charge of the bed-chamber, the chamberlain.” This individual was not just a domestic servant or butler, but a highly respected person who had considerable responsibility for the king’s living quarters and personal affairs. The English word “chamberlain” corresponds very closely to this meaning but is not in common use today. The term “personal assistant,” while it might convey more business associations than management of personal affairs, nevertheless communicates the concept well in contemporary English.
16 tn The words “to help them” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
17 tn Or “for a reconciliation.” There were grave political risks in having Herod angry at them. The detail shows the ruler’s power.
18 sn The expression executed with a sword probably refers to a beheading. James was the first known apostolic martyr (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. 2.9.1-3). On James, not the Lord’s brother, see Luke 5:10; 6:14. This death ended a short period of peace noted in Acts 9:31 after the persecution mentioned in 8:1-3.
19 sn Listen to my defense. This is the first of several speeches Paul would make in his own defense: Acts 24:10ff.; 25:8, 16; and 26:1ff. For the use of such a speech (“apologia”) in Greek, see Josephus, Ag. Ap. 2.15 [2.147]; Wis 6:10.
20 tn The adverb νυνί (nuni, “now”) is connected with the phrase τῆς πρὸς ὑμᾶς νυνὶ ἀπολογίας (th" pro" Juma" nuni apologia") rather than the verb ἀκούσατε (akousate), and the entire construction (prepositional phrase plus adverb) is in first attributive position and thus translated into English by a relative clause.
21 sn See the note on King Agrippa in 25:13.
22 tn Grk “It is permitted for you.”
23 tn Or “extended his hand” (a speaker’s gesture).
24 tn Or “and began to speak in his own defense.”
25 tn Grk “to take the place.”
26 tn Or “of this ministry.”
27 tn Or “the task of this service and apostleship which Judas ceased to perform.”
28 sn To go to his own place. This may well be a euphemism for Judas’ judged fate. He separated himself from them, and thus separated he would remain.