translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ACT

label: NET study note

text: That is, they came down from Judea to Antioch in Syria.


text: Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine in ancient Syria.


text: See the note on Pharisee in 5:34 .


text: The Greek word used here ( δεῖ , dei ) is a strong term that expresses divine necessity. The claim is that God commanded the circumcision of Gentiles.


text: God chose. The theme of God’s sovereign choice is an important point, because 1st century Jews believed Israel’s unique position and customs were a reflection of God’s choice.


text: The expression who knows the heart means “who knows what people think.”


text: By giving them…just as he did to us. The allusion is to the events of Acts 10-11 , esp. 10:44-48 and Peter’s remarks in 11:15-18 .


text: A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restriction that some in the early church wanted to place on Gentile converts to Christianity of observing the law of Moses and having males circumcised. The yoke is a decidedly negative image: Matt 23:4 , but cf. Matt 11:29-30 .


text: Simeon is a form of the apostle Peter’s Aramaic name. James uses Peter’s “Jewish” name here.


text: In the Greek text the expression “from among the Gentiles” is in emphatic position.


text: The term agree means “match” or “harmonize with.” James’ point in the introduction argues that many of the OT prophets taught this. He gives one example (which follows).


text: The first person pronoun I refers to God and his activity. It is God who is doing this.


text: A quotation from Amos 9:11-12 LXX. James demonstrated a high degree of cultural sensitivity when he cited a version of the text (the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament) that Gentiles would use.


text: Who makes these things known. The remark emphasizes how God’s design of these things reaches back to the time he declared them.


text: An allusion to Isa 45:21 .


text: What has been strangled. That is, to refrain from eating animals that had been killed without having the blood drained from them. According to the Mosaic law ( Lev 17:13-14 ), Jews were forbidden to eat flesh with the blood still in it (note the following provision in Acts 15:20 , and from blood ).


text: See the note on synagogue in 6:9 .


text: Silas . See 2 Cor 1:19 ; 1 Thess 1:1 ; 2 Thess 1:1 (= Silvanus).


text: Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). map For location see JP1-F2 ; JP2-F2 ; JP3-F2 ; JP4-F2 .


text: Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).


text: Judas and Silas were the “two witnesses” who would vouch for the truth of the recommendation.


text: This is a parenthetical note by the author.


text: The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1 , Isa 1:10 , Jonah 1:1 ). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου ( rJhma tou kuriou ; Luke 22:61 , Acts 11:16 , 1 Pet 1:25 ) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου ( logo" tou kuriou ; here and in v. 36 ; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 16:32; 19:10, 20 ; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15 ; 2 Thess 3:1 ). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.


text: Pamphylia was a province in the southern part of Asia Minor. See Acts 13:13 , where it was mentioned previously.


text: Cyprus is a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.


text: Strengthening. See Acts 14:22; 15:32; 18:23 .