1. Tannehill, Acts, 84.
2. This introductory statement needs to be taken seriously; it is a one-sided reading of the passage that leads to headings such as “The Arrest of Stephen” (NRSV) or “Stephen Seized” (TNIV; cf. ESV).
3. Freedmen who were Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and freedmen who were from Cilicia and Asia; cf. Lake and Cadbury, Acts, 66; H. Strathmann, “Λιβερτῖνοι,” TDNT, 4:265.
4. Emil Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Christ (175 B.C.—A.D. 135) (rev. G. Vermes et al.;. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1973–1987), 2:428; Levine, Synagogue, 56, who argues from the “extensive Diaspora presence in the city” and “the significant differences between these various communities.”
5. Cf. Levine, Synagogue, 381–411.
6. Luke 8:49; 13:14; Acts 13:15: 18:8, 17.
7. Levine, Synagogue, 58; cf. J. S. Kloppenborg Verbin, “Dating Theodotos (CIJ II 1404),” JJS 51 (2000): 243–80, for a defense of a first century AD date.
8. Tacitus, Ann. 2.85; cf. Philo, Embassy 23.155.
9. The region (in modern Libya) formed, together with the island of Crete, a senatorial province ruled by a proconsul.
10. Cf. André Bernand, Alexandrie la grande (Nouvelle édition; Paris: Hachette, 1998), 262–64.
11. Cf. LSJ, s.v. ὑποβάλλω II.2 “to spread secret rumors with false suggestions,” sense II.3, “to suborn.”
12. Thus Jervell, Apostelgeschichte, 226.
13. Bauckham, “James and the Jerusalem Community,” 76.
14. Matt 26:60–61/Mark 14:57–58; omitted in Luke.
15. Matt 26:64/Mark 14:62, with an allusion to Ps 110:1.
16. Cf. Matt 24:1–2/Mark 13:1–2 /Luke 21:5–6/John 2:19; for Jewish traditions concerning the Messiah rebuilding the temple, cf. Zech 6:12; 4QFlor I, 6–7; 2 Bar. 4:3; Mek. on Exod 15:17–21. Prophecies concerning the destruction of the temple were punishable by death, cf. the story of Jesus ben Ananias and his prophecies in AD 62 in Josephus, J.W. 6.300–309.
17. According to 2:47; 4:21; 5:13 the “people” (λαός) held the believers in high esteem. This may have changed as a result of the agitation of the diaspora Jews.
18. Cf. Matt 26:60 (ψευδομάρτυρες); also Mark 14:56, 57.
19. Several Old Testament passages lament that false testimony is often brought against the righteous, cf. Pss 27:12; 35:11; Prov 14:5; 24:28.
20. Bock, Acts, 273.
21. This is the first reference to the Mosaic law in Acts; cf. 7:52–53; 13:15, 38–39, etc.
22. Mallen, Isaiah in Luke-Acts, 114, following Gaventa, Acts, 129.
23. Gregory K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God (NSBT 17; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004), 224–25.
24. Mallen, Isaiah in Luke-Acts, 115.
25. R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark (NIGTC; Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 2002), 277.
26. Cf. Luke 6:1–11; 13:10–17; 14:1–6, with parallels in Mark and Matthew.
27. Cf. in the Old Testament, particularly Moses returning from Mount Sinai, where he had been in God’s presence, Exod 34:29–35; cf. Gen 33:10; 1 Sam 29:9; 2 Sam 14:17; Dan 3:92 LXX. See also Jos. Asen. 5:5–6; 6:1–3; 1Q28b IV, 4–24–27; Targum on Song of Songs 1:5; Rab. Deut. 11 (207d); Pirqe R. El. 2 (“Then Eliezer sat down and expounded. His face shone like the light of the sun and his radiance beamed like that of Moses, so that no one knew whether it was day or night”). In the New Testament cf. the change of the appearance of Jesus’ face during the transfiguration (Luke 9:29).
28. Cf. Eckhard J. Schnabel, Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies, and Methods (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 400–419.