1:22a–b

beginning from John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us: This phrase explains the phrase “the whole time” in 1:21b. Consider how to clearly indicate that in your language.

1:22a

John’s baptism: In English, this phrase would normally refer to someone baptizing John. But that is clearly not the meaning here. There are two ways to interpret this phrase:

(1) It refers to John baptizing Jesus. For example:

he was baptized by John (New Living Translation (2004))

(New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible)

(2) It refers to John’s ministry of baptizing people. For example:

the time when John was baptising (New Jerusalem Bible)

(New Jerusalem Bible, God’s Word, New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the focus of here is on events directly connected to Jesus (1:21b).

baptism: This noun refers to the event of baptizing people. The verb “baptize” means to purify people with a special ritual that uses water. In some languages a verb or phrase is used to translate the word baptism. For example:

ritually washing
-or-
purifying with God’s ceremonial bath

See how you translated the similar word “baptized” in 1:5.

1:22b

Jesus was taken up from us: Here this refers to God taking Jesus from the earth and bringing him to heaven.

This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

⌊God⌋ took Jesus up ⌊to heaven⌋ from us

1:22c

For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection: These words complete the thought of what was necessary for one man to have done in 1:21a. He must join the other apostles and become a witness to the fact of Jesus’ resurrection. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Whoever is chosen will join us as a witness of Jesus’ resurrection (New Living Translation (2004))

witness: This word indicates that the man would tell others what he knew personally about Jesus. See how you translated this word (“witnesses”) in 1:8.

us: This person was to become an apostle. So Peter would use the exclusive form of the pronoun us, because the hundred and twenty believers to whom Peter spoke were not all apostles, only the eleven.

of His resurrection: The word resurrection refers to the time when God caused Jesus to live again. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

of him rising from the dead
-or-
that Jesus has been raised from death (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
of ⌊God⌋ causing him to live again

General Comment on 1:21a–22c

A long description (1:21b–22b) occurs between introducing “one of the men” (1:21a) and what he is to “become” (1:22c). In some languages it is necessary or more natural to put the description after what the man is to become. For example:

21aTherefore it is necessary that one man 22cbecome a witness with us of his resurrection. 21a⌊It is necessary that⌋ he be one of the men who have accompanied us 21bthe whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22abeginning from John’s baptism 22bto the time when Jesus was taken up from us.

The combined verses would be labeled “21–22.”

© 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.