Acts 2:30-36

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 2:30 tn The participles ὑπάρχων (huparchōn) and εἰδώς (eidōs) are translated as causal adverbial participles.
2. Acts 2:30 tn Grk “one from the fruit of his loins.” “Loins” is the traditional translation of ὀσφῦς (osphus), referring to the male genital organs. A literal rendering like “one who came from his genital organs” would be regarded as too specific and perhaps even vulgar by many contemporary readers. Most modern translations thus render the phrase “one of his descendants.”
3. Acts 2:30 sn An allusion to Ps 132:11 and 2 Sam 7:12-13, the promise in the Davidic covenant.
4. Acts 2:31 tn Grk “David foreseeing spoke.” The participle προϊδών (proidōn) is taken as indicating means. It could also be translated as a participle of attendant circumstance: “David foresaw [this] and spoke.” The word “this” is supplied in either case as an understood direct object (direct objects in Greek were often omitted, but must be supplied for the modern English reader).
5. Acts 2:31 tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”sn The term χριστός (christos) was originally an adjective (“anointed”), developing in LXX into a substantive (“an anointed one”), then developing still further into a technical generic term (“the anointed one”). In the intertestamental period it developed further into a technical term referring to the hoped-for anointed one, that is, a specific individual. In the NT the development starts there (technical-specific), is so used in the gospels, and then develops in Paul’s letters to mean virtually Jesus’ last name.
6. Acts 2:31 tn Or “abandoned in the world of the dead.” The translation “world of the dead” for Hades is suggested by L&N 1.19. The phrase is an allusion to Ps 16:10.
7. Acts 2:31 tn Grk “flesh.” See vv. 26b-27. The reference to “body” in this verse picks up the reference to “body” in v. 26. The Greek term σάρξ (sarx) in both verses literally means “flesh”; however, the translation “body” stresses the lack of decay of his physical body. The point of the verse is not merely the lack of decay of his flesh alone, but the resurrection of his entire person, as indicated by the previous parallel line “he was not abandoned to Hades.”
8. Acts 2:31 tn Grk “see,” but the literal translation of the phrase “see decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “look at decay,” while here “see decay” is really figurative for “experience decay.”
9. Acts 2:31 sn An allusion to Ps 16:10.
10. Acts 2:32 tn Or “of him”; Grk “of which [or whom] we are all witnesses” (Acts 1:8).
11. Acts 2:33 tn The aorist participle ὑψωθείς (hupsōtheis) could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…” In the translation the more neutral “exalted” (a shorter form of “having been exalted”) was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.
12. Acts 2:33 sn The expression the right hand of God represents supreme power and authority. Its use here sets up the quotation of Ps 110:1 in v. 34.
13. Acts 2:33 tn The aorist participle λαβών (labōn) could be taken temporally: “So then, after he was exalted…and received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit.” In the translation the more neutral “having received” was used to preserve the ambiguity of the original Greek.
14. Acts 2:33 tn Here the genitive τοῦ πνεύματος (tou pneumatos) is a genitive of apposition; the promise consists of the Holy Spirit.
15. Acts 2:33 sn The use of the verb poured out looks back to 2:17-18, where the same verb occurs twice.
16. Acts 2:34 sn Sit at my right hand. The word “sit” alludes back to the promise of “seating one on his throne” in v. 30.
17. Acts 2:35 sn The metaphor make your enemies a footstool portrays the complete subjugation of the enemies.
18. Acts 2:35 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1, one of the most often-cited OT passages in the NT, pointing to the exaltation of Jesus.
19. Acts 2:36 tn Or “know for certain.” This term is in an emphatic position in the clause.
20. Acts 2:36 tn Grk “has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” The clause has been simplified in the translation by replacing the pronoun “him” with the explanatory clause “this Jesus whom you crucified” which comes at the end of the sentence.
21. Acts 2:36 sn Lord. This looks back to the quotation of Ps 110:1 and the mention of “calling on the Lord” in 2:21. Peter’s point is that the Lord on whom one calls for salvation is Jesus, because he is the one mediating God’s blessing of the Spirit as a sign of the presence of salvation and the last days.
22. Acts 2:36 tn Or “and Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”sn See the note on Christ in 2:31.