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16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance[a] as a servant and witness[b] to the things[c] you have seen[d] and to the things in which I will appear to you. 17 I will rescue[e] you from your own people[f] and from the Gentiles, to whom[g] I am sending you 18 to open their eyes so that they turn[h] from darkness to light and from the power[i] of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share[j] among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 26:16 tn L&N 30.89 has “‘to choose in advance, to select beforehand, to designate in advance.’”
  2. Acts 26:16 sn As a servant and witness. The commission is similar to Acts 1:8 and Luke 1:2. Paul was now an “eyewitness” of the Lord.
  3. Acts 26:16 tn BDAG 719 s.v. ὁράω A.1.b states, “W. attraction of the relative ὧν = τούτων ἅ Lk 9:36; Ac 22:15. The attraction may be due to colloq. breviloquence in μάρτυρα ὧν τε εἶδες με ὧν τε ὀφθήσομαί σοι a witness to the things in which you saw me and to those in which I shall appear to you Ac 26:16b.”
  4. Acts 26:16 tc ‡ Some mss read “of the things in which you have seen me.” The accusative object με (me, “me”) is found after εἶδές (eides) in B C*vid 614 945 1175 1505 1739 1891 2464 sy sa; it is lacking in P74 א A C2 E Ψ 096 M latt bo. The external evidence is relatively evenly divided, though there is a slight preference for the omission. NA28 includes the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.
  5. Acts 26:17 tn Grk “rescuing.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle ἐξαιρούμενος (exairoumenos) has been translated as a finite verb and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 17.
  6. Acts 26:17 tn That is, from the Jewish people. Grk “the people”; the words “your own” have been supplied to clarify the meaning.
  7. Acts 26:17 tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is probably both the Jews (“your own people”) and the Gentiles, indicating the comprehensive commission Paul received.
  8. Acts 26:18 sn To open their eyes so that they turn… Here is Luke’s most comprehensive report of Paul’s divine calling. His role was to call humanity to change their position before God and experience God’s forgiveness as a part of God’s family. The image of turning is a key one in the NT: Luke 1:79; Rom 2:19; 13:12; 2 Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col 1:12; 1 Thess 5:5. See also Luke 1:77-79; 3:3; 24:47.
  9. Acts 26:18 tn BDAG 352-53 s.v. ἐξουσία 2 states, “Also of Satan’s power Ac 26:18.” It is also possible to translate this “the domain of Satan” (cf. BDAG 353 s.v. 6)
  10. Acts 26:18 tn Or “and an inheritance.”