The idea that God gives men over (Good News Translation gave them over) to the consequence of their sin appears three times in Romans 1 (vv. 24, 26, 28), and implies that God not merely passively deserts such people, but that he actively hands them over to the result of their sins.

The “hosts of heaven” is a Jewish way of speaking of the stars of heaven (see Moffatt, An American Translation* “the starry host”).

The book of the prophets is not a comprehensive term referring to the section of the Hebrew Bible known as “the prophets”; it is rather a reference to the single scroll which contained all of the so-called minor prophets. The quotation which follows is from Amos 5.25-27; and as given here it follows the Septuagint text, which departs significantly from the Hebrew text. Not only is there a textual difference between the Septuagint and the Hebrew, but there is a basic difference of application of these verses by Amos and Stephen. Amos is arguing against the priestly emphasis upon sacrifice, and points out that the absence of sacrifice in the desert was an indication that God did not command his people to offer sacrifice to him; whereas Stephen uses these verses to prove that the Israelites were idolatrous all during the time of their desert wanderings. In Greek the quotation from Amos is a rhetorical question expecting the answer “no,” with the people addressed coming last in the sentence: “you did not sacrifice to me … did you … house of Israel?” In order to make this a more natural and readable English construction, the Good News Translation has transformed the rhetorical question into a statement and has put the people addressed first in the verse. Also, the Greek uses two nouns which are virtual synonyms (“slaughtered animals” and “sacrificed animals”) as objects of the verb “you offered (as sacrifices in worship).” But these have been restructured by the Good News Translation to read it was not to me that you slaughtered and sacrificed animals.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .