SIL Translator’s Notes on Acts 3:26

3:26a–c

The Old Testament quote ended in 3:25d. Here Peter began speaking his own words again. In some languages he must be introduced again. For example:

Peter spoke further saying,⌋…

Also this verse is the conclusion that Peter wanted to the people to understand. In some languages it is more natural to clearly indicate that. For example:

Therefore⌋…
-or-

Peter concluded saying,⌋…

3:26a

God raised up His Servant: The phrase raised up is probably used in a similar way to how it is used in 3:22a. God empowered Jesus to begin his ministry. Here it may also refer to God sending Jesus into the world. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

God empowered his servant
-or-
God enabled his servant ⌊to begin his work

His Servant: This phrase refers to Jesus. Peter probably did not name him here so that his audience would have to think about who he referred to. But Peter already referred to Jesus as God’s servant in 3:13b, so the people would know who he meant here.

Jesus is God’s Servant because he always obeyed God and did what pleased him. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

his worker
-or-
him who served him/God ⌊in this world

See how you translated this phrase in 3:13b.

In some languages a literal translation would refer to someone other than Jesus. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

Explain that the phrase refers to Jesus in a footnote. For example:

The phrase “His Servant” refers to Jesus.

Explain that the phrase refers to Jesus in your translation. For example:

His Servant ⌊Jesus

3:26b

first: The word first here indicates that God sent Jesus to the Jews first. God would help the Jews first, then he would help all of the other peoples of the earth.

to you: This phrase is emphasized in the Greek here. If your language has a natural way to emphasize this phrase, you may want to do so.

you: By using the plural pronoun you, Peter focused on his audience. If you included Peter and John the pronouns in your translation in 3:25b, you may want to do the same here. For example:

you(plur)as well as me
-or-
you(plur)along with us(excl)(dual)
-or-
us(plur)(incl)

3:26c

by: The word by indicates the means that Jesus used to bless them.

turning each of you from your wicked ways: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as turning is literally “turning away.” Here it means “cause a change in belief or behavior.” Jesus would cause them to turn away from, or reject, the evil things they were doing. Here are some other ways to translate these words:

making every one of you turn away from your wicked ways (Good News Translation)
-or-
his causing-us -to-turn-our-backs-on the bad/evil that we were doing
-or-
cause us to repent from our evil actions

wicked ways: This phrase refers to deeds that are evil. God hates these deeds.

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
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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