The Jewish Annotated New Testament (239 page)

58
–59
: Stephen’s final words echo those of Jesus (Lk 23.34,46).

60
:
Do not hold
, Stephen intercedes on behalf of his killers, possibly modeled on the image of the servant in Isa 53.12.

8.1b
–3: Church developments.
The death of Stephen marks a turning point in the narrative. For the first time the church experiences widespread opposition, and because the persecution drives followers out of Judea, it gains a presence outside of Jerusalem. Both themes dominate the rest of the work.

1
:
Judea and Samaria
, see 1.8. The stories of Philip and Peter in chs 8–10 dramatize the expansion.

3
: Paul reports his persecution of the church (1 Cor 15.9; Gal 1.13,23).

8.4
–25: Preaching in Samaria.
Fulfilling Jesus’ instructions in 1.8. Samaritans, living particularly around Mount Gerizim, were descended from the remnants of the population of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and those brought into the region by the Assyrian conquerors in 722 BCE; therefore they had close historical and religious ties to Jews, though there were religious differences. Samaritans appear in the Gospel of Luke as faithful to Jesus’ teaching (Lk 10.33; 17.16; cf. 9.53).

4
:
Scattered
, like the Jewish people in the Diaspora.

5
:
Philip
, one of the seven, 6.5.
City of Samaria
, no exact location is given; Luke may have had in mind Sebaste, formerly Samaria, once the capital of the Kingdom of Israel, but renamed by Herod in honor of the emperor Augustus (Josephus,
J.W
. 1.403;
Ant
. 15.217,292–98).

6
–7
: Exorcisms and healings; cf. 3.7; 5.12; 9.34; 14.18; 16.18.

9
–25
:
Simon
. Luke distinguishes the magic of
Simon
, “the great power” (v. 10) with the miraculous great powers (here translated as miracles) of Philip (v. 13). Acts champions Christians as the legitimate conveyers of divine power in contrast to those who practice base magic (13.6–11; 16.16–24; 19.13–20,23–40).

9
:
Practiced magic
, hence the name often given as Simon “Magus,” originally indicating a member of the Persian priestly class, but commonly carrying a pejorative connotation.

12
:
Kingdom of God
, in Acts, the term refers to the general content of Christian preaching; see 19.8; 20.25; 28.23,31.

14
: Jesus’ instructions concerning
Samaria
(1.8) are fulfilled. The apostles continue to oversee the expansion of the church (15.1–21).

15
–16
: Holy Spirit is independent of any ritual act, even laying on of hands (10.44).

18
–19
: Simon’s offer is the origin of the term “simony” for any attempt to buy a church office.

23
:
Gall of bitterness
, the allusion to Deut 29.18 (Heb 29.17) implies that Simon is guilty of serving other gods.

8.26
–40: The Ethiopian official.

26
:
Angel of the Lord
, God, through agents such as angels and the Spirit, directs the expansion of the church (10.19–20; 13.4; 16.6,7).

27
:
Ethiopian eunuch
, Ethiopia is probably meant to evoke a far distant land (Am 9.7; Homer,
Od
. 1.23).
Candace
, a royal title for
queen of the Ethiopians
rather than a personal name.
Jerusalem to worship
, no indication of what form of worship is intended. Eunuchs were excluded from participation in Temple rituals (Lev 21.20) and entrance, as proselytes, into the community of Israel (Deut 23.1;
Ant
. 4.292). His presence in Jerusalem possibly is meant as fulfillment of Ps 68.31 (Heb 68.32) that speaks of Ethiopia reaching out to God, and Isa 56.3–5 that anticipates the future inclusion of eunuchs among God’s people (cf. Wis 3.14). Gentiles interested in Judaism appear often in Acts (10.2; 13.16; 16.14; 18.7).

28
:
Isaiah
, often quoted in Luke-Acts (Lk 3.4; 4.17; Acts 28.25) or alluded to (2.3; 3.13–14; 7.58; 8.26).

29
:
The Spirit
, see 8.39; 10.19; 11.12; 13.2,4; 15.28; 16.6,7; 21.4,11; 28.25.

30
:
Heard him
, reading was typically aloud.

32
–33
: Isa 53.7–8.

35
: Lk 24.27. For Luke, although Jews and Christians possess the same sacred text, only Christians can interpret it correctly. See similar understanding attributed to the Teacher of Righteousness in the Qumran community, e.g., 1QpHab.

40
:
Azotus
, between Gaza and Joppa;
Caesarea
, Caesarea Maritima, the major harbor city rebuilt by Herod I, seat of Roman administration in the province of Judea.

9.1
–31: Conversion of Saul/Paul.
Account repeated, with minor variations, in 22.1–21; 26.9–18. Paul describes himself (Gal 1.13–14; Phil 3.6) as having persecuted the church.

2
:
Way
, title for Christian community (19.9,23; 22.4; 24.14); it may suggest that Christians follow the divine appointed path (cf. Deut 5.33; 10.12; 30.16; Isa 42.24; Zech 3.7; CD 20.18; 1QS 9.17–18).

3
–7
: Common elements of divine appearances include flashing light (4 Macc 4.10), falling to the ground (Ezek 1.28; Dan 10.9), double naming (Gen 22.11; 46.2; Ex 3.4; 1 Sam 3.4,10), and commission (Gen 12.1; 22.2).

5
:
Lord
, a title of respect as well as of divinity.

8
–9
: Connection between physical and spiritual sight (Lk 24.16,31).
Neither ate nor drank
, extended fasting is associated with intense piety and spiritual transformation (Lk 4.2; Jdt 8.6;
Jos
.
Asen
. 10.1).

10
:
Disciple in Damascus
, Acts does not report how Christianity spread to the Syrian city.
Vision
, divine instruction often takes place in visions (10.3,17,19; 16.9).
Here I am
, conventional response to God (Gen 22.1; 31.11; 46.2; Ex 3.4).

11
:
Tarsus
, city of Cilicia in southeast Asia Minor.

12
:
Lay
…
hands
, technique used in healing (Lk 4.40; 13.11–13).

13
:
Saints
, lit., “holy ones,” a standard term. It is rare in Acts (9.32; 26.10), but frequent in Paul (e.g., Rom 1.7; 15.25; 1 Cor 16.1; 2 Cor 8.4; 13.13; Phil 1.1) to designate members of the Christian community.

15
:
Gentiles
…
kings
…
Israel
, Paul accomplishes this mission. Jesus offers a similar command to his disciples (cf. Mt 10.18; 28:19; Mk 13.9–10).

16
:
Suffer
, the mission will be difficult; Paul recites his ordeals in 2 Cor 11.24–29.

18
:
Scales
, Tob 3.17; 11.13.

22
:
Jesus was the Messiah
, the claim that Jesus is Messiah often provokes opposition among Jews (17.3–5; 18.5–6,28).

23
–25
: Paul’s version of the escape (2 Cor 11.32–33) identifies the source of hostility as an official of the Nabatean king, not Jews.

26
:
Come to Jerusalem
, Paul reports that he initially traveled to Arabia and did not go to Jerusalem for three years (Gal 1.17–18).

27
:
Barnabas
, see 4.36n. He joins Paul as a fellow missionary (12.25; 13.2–50; 14.12–20; 15.2–39; cf. 1 Cor 9.6; Gal 2.1–13).
Apostles
, Paul reports that on his initial visit to Jerusalem he met only with Cephas (Peter) and James (Gal 1.18–19).
Spoken boldly
, see 4.13.

29
:
Hellenists
, Greek speaking Jews, as in 6.1.

30
:
Tarsus
, Paul’s hometown, see v. 11.

31
: A concluding summary reporting the expansion of the church in size and location (2.41,47; 5.12–16; 19.20).

9.32
–43: Peter’s travels.
The story returns to Peter who performs two miraculous healings. Elsewhere in Acts, healing rarely prompts conversion (13.11–12), and more often stirs interest (5.16) and misunderstanding (14.11–12; 28.6).

32
:
Saints
, see 9.13n.
Lydda
, on the road from Jerusalem to Joppa; present-day Lod.

36
–42
: Peter’s act of resuscitation is modeled on those of Elijah (1 Kings 17.17–24), Elisha (2 Kings 4.18–37), and Jesus (Lk 7.11–17; 8.41–42,49–56).

36
:
Joppa
, present-day Yaffa/Yafo.
Tabitha
, only woman in the NT explicitly called a disciple. Like Paul and John Mark (12.12,25), she has both a Hebrew or Aramaic name and a Greek (or Latin) one (see translators’ note
c
).

39
:
Widows
, for widows involved in prayer and mourning, see Lk 2.37; 1 Tim 5.5.

10.1
–11.18: Conversion of Cornelius.
The conversion of the Roman centurion marks the decisive step in extending the church to Gentiles.