SIL Translator’s Notes on Acts 2:30

2:30a

But: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as But is literally “therefore” (as in the Revised Standard Version). It introduces Peter’s conclusion (2:31b–d) based on what he said in 2:25–29. For example:

Therefore (King James Version)

The rest of 2:30a–31a is additional support for what Peter said in 2:31b–d. In some languages it is necessary or more natural to have the word “therefore” at the beginning of 2:31b. For example:

and he was a prophet…31aand foresaw the future, 31btherefore he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ
-or-
He was ⌊also⌋ a prophet…31aand foresaw the future. 31bFor all those reasons, he was speaking about the resurrection of the Christ

he was a prophet: The Greek text is literally “being a prophet.” In some languages this clause must be translated with the past tense, like the Berean Standard Bible.

prophet: A prophet is a person who speaks on behalf of God. God speaks to the prophet through words and visions. See how you translated prophet in 2:16.

2:30b

knew: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as knew is literally “knowing” (as in the Revised Standard Version). God told this promise to David personally. It indicates that 2:30b–c is the third reason that Peter concluded that David spoke of the resurrection of Christ (2:31b).

God had promised him on oath: This clause indicates that God promised to do something and then he guaranteed that he would do it with an oath. The words of the oath were not written. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

God made a promise to David and vowed that he would do so
-or-
God promised to him and strengthened it with an oath to do so

2:30c

He would place one of his descendants on his throne:
The pronoun He refers to God. The pronoun his refers to David. This clause tells what God had promised he would do for David.

The Greek is more literally “from the fruit of his loins to sit/seat on his throne.” The words He would place translates “to sit/seat.” The phrase “the fruit of his loins” refers to a descendant of David’s. In Peter’s time, David’s throne was gone, but his position of authority was now held by the Christ. Here are other ways to translate the Greek words here:

he would take one of his/David’s descendants and put him on his/David’s throne
-or-
he would make one of David’s descendants a king, just as David was (Good News Translation)

throne: This word refers to the official seat or chair of a king. Here is another way to translate this word:

leader’s place to rule

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Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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