1. Paul’s speech before the Areopagus has a different function (see on 17:16–34).
2. Cf. Josef Pichler, Paulusrezeption in der Apostelgeschichte: Untersuchungen zur Rede im pisidischen Antiochien (IThS 50; Innsbruck: Tyrolia, 1997), 124–31; Fitzmyer, Acts, 507–8. Parsons, Acts, 192, correctly recognizes that Paul’s speech “does not fit the specific pattern of a forensic, deliberative, or epideictic speech.”
3. Bowker, “Speeches in Acts,” 101–4.
4. Cf. Baum, “Paulinismen,” 414–24.
5. Cf. BDAG, s.v. άνάγω 4, as a nautical technical term, middle or passive, denoting “to begin to go by boat, put out to sea” or “to set sail.” See also 16:11; 18:21; 20:3, 13; 21:1–2; 27:2; 27:4, 12, 21; 28:10; also Luke 8:22.
6. Cf. Gal 4:13, where Paul asserts that he came to Galatia and preached the gospel there “because of an illness.” Cf. William M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1896), 92–97.
7. Cf. Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, 2:1085–86.
8. Stephen Mitchell, Anatolia: Land, Men, and Gods in Asia Minor (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1995), 2:7.
9. Cf. 14:1 (Iconium); 17:17 (Athens); 18:4 (Corinth); 18:19; 19:8 (Ephesus).
10. Later Jewish evidence suggests that the service in the synagogue began with the recitation of the Jewish confession of faith (the Shema), followed by the recitation of the Eighteen Blessings (the Shemoneh Esreh or Tephillah), a priestly blessing, a reading from the Torah and a reading from the Prophets, followed by a sermon.
11. Levine, Synagogue, 415–27. In secular Greek, the term ἀρχισυνάγωγος is often used for benefactors who were conspicuous in their contributions to an association; cf. Horsley and Llewelyn, New Documents, 4:213–20.
12. The same expression occurs in Heb 12:23; it is sometimes interpreted as having “something of a technical flavor for a sermon based on the lections” (Johnson, Acts, 230).
13. Cf. Exod 6:1, 6, 8; 12:51; Deut 4:34; 5:15; 9:29.
14. The phrase translated as “with mighty power” (μετὰ βραχίονος ὑψηλοῦ) means literally “with uplifted arm.” The term “arm” (βραχίων) is an anthropomorphic symbol of God’s power (BDAG).
15. Cf. Jeska, Geschichte Israels, 223, who suggests that this is the reason why Moses is not mentioned (ibid., 224); the stress on God’s activity in the conquest of Canaan is the traditional emphasis of summaries of Israel’s history (not emphasized in Acts 7).
16. Deut 7:1 singles out “the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites” as the “seven nations larger and stronger than you.”
17. Cf. Gen 15:13; cf. Acts 7:6 (400 years in Egypt); Num 14:33–34 (40 years in the desert); Josh 14 (conquest).
18. See Ant. 8.61. Note that 1 Kgs 6:1 mentions 480 years (the LXX has 440 years) for the period between the exodus and the beginning of the building of the temple in Jerusalem by Solomon. Cf. Eugene H. Merrill, “Paul’s Use of ‘About 450 Years’ in Acts 13.20,” BSac 138 (1981): 246–57.
19. 1 Sam 3:20. In Acts 3:24 Samuel is described as the first of the prophets. Only six summaries of Israel’s history mention individual judges; cf. 1 Sam 12:11; Neh 9:27–28; Sir 46:11–12; L.A.B. 32; 1 En. 89:39, 41; cf. 1 Macc 2:55. Cf. Jeska, Geschichte Israels, 225.
20. Cf. 1 Sam 8:5–10:25; 12:13.
21. The OT does not clearly specify the length of Saul’s reign. Josephus, Ant. 6.378, asserts that Saul reigned for eighteen years during the time of Samuel and twenty-two years after Samuel (in Ant. 10.143 he speaks of a twenty-year reign of Saul).
22. Cf. 1 Sam 9:3; 10:21; and 9:1; 10:20–21.
23. Cf. 9:4, 17; 22:7, 13; 26:14; and Rom 11:1; Phil 3:5.
24. Cf. 1 Sam 15:23, 26; 16:1.
25. Cf. 1 Sam 16:11–13.
26. 1 Chr 10:14; 29:26; Ps 72:20.
27. Cf. 2 Sam 23:1; 11QPsa XXVII:2; XXVIII:3.
28. Cf. Miura, David in Luke-Acts, 179, who suggests that since David’s “heart” in its relation to God is “fully reflected in the Psalms rather than in Samuel,” the second phrase connotes the righteous sufferer of David in the psalm.
29. Miura, David in Luke-Acts, 181.
30. Cf. Jer 30:9; Hos 3:5; Ezek 37:24–25.
31. Cf. Dan 9:25; Pss. Sol. 17:21–34; Fitzmyer, Acts, 511.
32. Isa 45:15, 21. Cf. related words in 2 Sam 22:3; Pss 17:7; 106:21; Isa 43:3, 11; 60:16; Hos 13:4. Note Isa 43:11, “I, even I, am the LORD, and part from me there is no savior.”
33. Cf. Isa 49:6, where the Servant of the Lord restores the tribes of Jacob and is “a light for the Gentiles,” carrying God’s “salvation … to the ends of the earth.”
34. For Jesus’ Davidic descent cf. Matt 1:1; Mark 12:35; Luke 3:23, 31; Rom 1:3; 2 Tim 2:8.
35. Note that Luke describes Jesus’ ministry as a “way” (ὁδός), Luke 3:4; 7:27, a term that he also uses to describe the faith and life of the followers of Jesus, Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22. Cf. Fitzmyer, Acts, 513.
36. Cf. John 1:19–23. On the variant readings and the grammar of Acts 13:25, which do not alter the meaning, cf. Barrett, Acts, 638.
37. Cf. Luke 3:16, where the wording is slightly different; cf. Mark 1:7; John 1:27. Note the later text b. Ketub. 96a, where R. Joshua b. Levi says, “A disciple should do for his teacher anything a slave would do—except take off his shoes.”
38. Cf. 4:5, 8, 23.
39. Cf. Matt 26:62–66; Mark 14:60–64; cf. Luke 22:66–71, where the term “blasphemy” is not used.
40. Cf. 1:16; Luke 18:31; 22:37.
41. Cf. BDAG, s.v. αἰτία 3, “a basis for legal action” (legal terminus technicus); sense 3a, “charge, ground for complaint”: the expression αἰτία θανάτου corresponds to Latin causa capitalis, “reason/grounds for capital punishment.”
42. Cf. m. Sanh. 7:1–10; y. Sanh. 25d (5–10).
43. Cf. Luke 23:4, 14–15, 22, Pilate’s threefold declaration of Jesus’ innocence. Cf. John 18:38; 19:4, 6.
44. For the use of “tree” (ξύλον) for “cross,” see 5:30; 10:39; Gal 3:13; cf. Deut 21:22. Cf. BDAG, s.v. ξύλον 2c. In the present context, “they” refers to the Jews as Jesus’ enemies (although a reference to Pilate mentioned in v. 28 is possible, as his soldiers carried out the execution mentioned in v. 29). According to Luke 23:50–52; John 19:38 it was Joseph of Arimathea who took Jesus’ body down from the cross.
45. Cf. Luke 23:53; John 19:41–42.
46. Cf. 3:15; 4:10; 10:40.
47. Cf. 1:3, where Luke asserts that Jesus was seen after his resurrection for “forty days.”
48. Cf. Luke 9:51; 18:31; 19:28; 23:49; Acts 1:21–22; 10:39, 41. Cf. Jervell, Apostelgeschichte, 358.
49. Cf. 9:3–5; 22:6–9; 26:13–16.
50. Cf. Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39, 41.
51. For the verb “proclaim good news” (εὐαγγελίζόμαι) see on 5:42.
52. For the exegetical method of gezerah shawah, see on 2:34.
53. Marshall, “Acts,” 585; cf. ibid. for the following discussion.
54. Cf. Pss. Sol. 17:26.
55. Cf. Fitzmyer, Acts, 517; Bock, Acts, 456. Cf. Rom 1:3–4 and Heb 1:5; 5:5, which associate Jesus’ sonship with his resurrection.
56. Barrett, Acts, 645–46; Marshall, “Acts,” 585. Strauss, Davidic Messiah, 162–66, interprets v. 33 in terms of the entire ministry of Jesus from his birth to his resurrection and exaltation.
57. Marshall, “Acts,” 586. Cf. Mallen, Isaiah in Luke-Acts, 110.
58. Anderson, Jesus’ Resurrection, 254; cf. ibid. 249–54 for a discussion of other interpretations. See also Bock, Proclamation, 252–54.
59. Ps 16:10 has already been quoted at 2:27; see there for details.
60. The expression is often used in the Old Testament; cf. Judg 2:10; 2 Kgs 22:20; cf. 1 Kgs 2:10.
61. Soards, Speeches, 87.
62. In theory the law could provide forgiveness only for sins committed unwittingly, not for sins committed deliberately; cf. Marshall, “Acts,” 587, who comments that “the practical situation must have been different.”
63. Cf. Rom 2:13; 3:4, 20, 24, 26, 28, 30; 4:2, 5; 5:1, 9; 6:7; 8:30, 33; Gal 2:16, 17; 3:8, 11, 24; 5:4.
64. The English translations render the verb (δικαιοῦται) as follows: “is declared right with God” (NLT); “is justified” (NET, NIV 1984); “is set free” (GNB, NRSV, NIV, cf. NASB, ESV). Cf. BDAG, s.v. δικαιόω 2bβ.
65. Brevard S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977), 451.
66. Waylon Bailey, “Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,” in Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah (Kenneth L. Barker and Waylon Bailey; NAC 20; Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1999), 302.
67. Anderson, Jesus’ Resurrection, 258.
68. Cf. BDAG, s.v. βλασφημέω, “primarily ‘to demean through speech,’ an especially sensitive matter in an honor-shame oriented society; to speak in a disrespectful way that demeans, denigrates, maligns,” i.e., “to slander, revile, defame.”
69. Cf. Eckhard J. Schnabel, “Jewish Opposition to Christians in Asia Minor in the First Century,” BBR 18 (2008): 233–70.
70. The expression “eternal life” occurs only here and in v. 48 in Acts; cf. Luke 10:25; 18:18, 30; note 17 occurrences in the gospel of John; for Paul cf. Rom 2:7; 5:21; 6:22, 23; Gal 6:8: 1 Tim 1:16; 6:12; Titus 1:2; 3:7.
71. Cf. Sir 37:26; 4Q181 frag. 1 II, 4.6; 1 QS IV, 7; CD III, 20; 4Q511 frag. 2 II, 4.
72. Cf. 14:1: Iconium; 16:13: Philippi; 17:1–4: Thessalonica; 17:10–12: Berea; 17:17: Athens; 18:4: Corinth; 18:19–21; 19:8–10: Ephesus. Cf. Rom 9:1–2.
73. See on 9:20–22, 30; 11:25–26.
74. BDAG, s.v. τάσσω 1b, citing Plato, Resp. 2.371C, Pol. 289E, as parallels.
75. Cf. Exod 32:32–33; Ps 69:28; Dan 12:1; see the Jewish texts Jub. 30:18–23; 1 En. 47:3; 104:1; 108:3. In the New Testament see Rev 13:8; 17:8.
76. Cf. Schnabel, Early Christian Mission, 2:1107. Antioch controlled over fifty villages.
77. Cf. Horsley and Llewelyn, New Documents, 3:30–31, followed by Barrett, Acts, 660.
78. Bock, Acts, 466. Jesus had commanded that his disciples perform this action; cf. Luke 9:5; 10:11; Matt 10:14.
79. Cf. Rom 1:14–16; 1 Cor 1:26–29; 9:22; Gal 3:28; Col 3:11.
80. Cf. 1 Cor 3:5–9; 2 Cor 5:18–21; 1 Thess 2:13.
81. Note the joyful expression of triumph and glory in Rom 8:31–39 in the context of suffering (8:35–36, 38–39).
82. David Wenham, “From Jesus to Paul—via Luke,” in The Gospel to the Nations: Perspectives on Paul’s Mission (FS P. O’Brien; ed. P. Bolt and M. Thompson; Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 83–97, 90.