Acts 7:43-45

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Acts 7:43 tn Or “tent.”sn A tabernacle was a tent used to house religious objects or a shrine (i.e., a portable sanctuary).
2. Acts 7:43 sn Moloch was a Canaanite deity who was believed to be the god of the sky and the sun.
3. Acts 7:43 tc ‡ Most mss, including several significant ones (P⁷⁴ א A C E Ψ 33 1739 M h p vg sy^h mae bo Cyr), have ὑμῶν (humōn, “your”) here, in conformity with the LXX of Amos 5:26. But other significant and diverse witnesses lack the pronoun: The lack of ὑμῶν in B D 36 453 gig sy^p sa Ir^lat Or is difficult to explain if it is not the autographic wording here. NA²⁸ has the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.
4. Acts 7:43 sn Rephan (῾Ραιφάν, Rhaiphan) was a pagan deity. The term was a name for Saturn. It was variously spelled in the mss (BDAG 903 s.v. has Rompha as an alternate spelling). The references cover a range of deities and a history of unfaithfulness.
5. Acts 7:43 tn Or “I will make you move.”
6. Acts 7:43 sn A quotation from Amos 5:25-27. This constituted a prediction of the exile.
7. Acts 7:44 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
8. Acts 7:44 tn Or “tent.”sn The tabernacle was the tent used to house the ark of the covenant before the construction of Solomon’s temple. This is where God was believed to reside, yet the people were still unfaithful.
9. Acts 7:44 tn Or “desert.”
10. Acts 7:44 tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11. Acts 7:44 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
12. Acts 7:45 tn Grk “And.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
13. Acts 7:45 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
14. Acts 7:45 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”sn Before our ancestors. Stephen has backtracked here to point out how faithful God had been before the constant move to idolatry just noted.
15. Acts 7:45 tn Grk “In those days.”