Section 3:1–10

Peter healed a lame man

In this section Peter and John met a lame man. Peter healed him using the power of Jesus. This miracle is similar to Jesus healing the paralytic in Luke 5:17–26, but here Luke indicates that the man had been lame from birth. This makes the miracle even more astonishing. This miracle is an example of the wonders and miraculous signs mentioned in 2:43. One consequence of this miracle was that Peter preached to the people in the temple area (3:11–26).

Here is another possible heading for this section:

Peter heals a crippled man (New Century Version)

Paragraph 3:1–10

3:1a

One afternoon: The phrase One afternoon introduces a new story. 2:42–47 talks about certain events that happened over a period of time. The events of 3:1–10 probably happened during that time. They are an example of miraculous signs mentioned in 2:43. So the Berean Standard Bible uses the introductory phrase One afternoon. Introduce the new events according to the connection described here. Introduce them in a natural way in your language. For example:

Once (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
On one-occasion

Peter and John: Peter and John are the same men mentioned in 1:13b.

were going up to the temple: The Jewish people usually talked about going up to the temple, because the temple was on higher ground than most of the rest of Jerusalem. It was also holy ground. So it was also up for the Jewish people in the sense of approaching God.

In some languages going up indicates a very steep hill. If that is true in your language, translate the meaning as described above. For example:

were going to the temple
-or-
were approaching the ⌊holy⌋ temple

were going up: The Greek grammar probably indicates that Peter and John were on their way to the temple. For example:

were on their way (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
went together going up

temple: Here, the word temple refers to the courtyards that surrounded the temple. Only the priests were allowed into the temple itself. In 2:46, the Berean Standard Bible translates the Greek word as “temple courts.” See how you translated “temple courts” there.

3:1b

at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour: The phrase the ninth hour refers to nine hours after sunrise. This is about three o’clock in the afternoon. It was one of the times when Jews went to the temple each day to pray and worship God. Here are some other ways to translate these words:

at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
at the mid-afternoon time of prayer
-or-
because it was the hour of praying because the sun had gone half-way down

prayer: This word refers to speaking to God. It includes praising God, thanking him, and asking him to do things. It does not refer to speaking words of magic or meaningless repetition. See how you translated this word in 1:14 or 2:42.

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