The Passion Translation New Testament: With Psalms, Proverbs and Song of Songs

by Brian Simmons

l21:15 The Aramaic is “feed my rams” (male lambs). This may refer to the other disciples. In v. 16 the Aramaic is simply “sheep.” And in v. 17 in Aramaic, Jesus used the third term “ewes” (female lambs). Some see in these that Peter was symbolically given charge of three flocks: Jews, Samaritans, and gentiles. Regardless, men and women need to be cared for and fed by the leadership of Christ’s church among the nations.

t21:25 The Aramaic is very poetic: “The world itself would be emptied out into the books that would be written.” An alternate translation of the Aramaic could read “I suppose that forever is still not enough time for all the books to be written!”

a2:1 Or “came to be fulfilled.” The Greek word means “to fill completely (to be fulfilled).” Pentecost was one of the main feasts of Israel. The name is derived from pentekostos, which means “fiftieth,” since it was held on the fiftieth day after the Passover Sabbath. It was also known as the Feast of Harvest.

ax2:35 See Ps. 110:1, which is the most frequently quoted Old Testament verse found in the New Testament. This shows there is a continuing work of defeating Christ’s enemies as his kingdom increases on earth as it is in heaven.

bf2:38 Peter was likely saying these words from the steps of the temple. Below him were dozens of mikveh (immersion pools used for ceremonial cleanings of Jewish worshipers). Peter was pointing them to the cleansing that comes through the name and authority of Jesus Christ. The Aramaic is startling: “Be immersed in the name of Lord Yahweh Y’shua.” Peter is clearly saying that Lord Yahweh and Jesus are one and the same.

13The council members were astonished as they witnessed the bold couragej of Peter and John, especially when they discovered that they were just ordinary men who had never had religious training.k Then they began to understand the effect Jesus had on them simply by spending time with him.

a4:1–2 Of the three major sects of Judaism of that day (Pharisees, Essenes, and Sadducees), the Sadducees were a small but influential group that philosophically denied the supernatural and gravitated instead toward political control of the people. Their denial of the resurrection is what prompted their actions here.

s4:31 The Aramaic is “an earthquake.”

t4:31 The Greek word is parresia. This involves more than confidence; it was a free-flowing, unrestrained boldness. It can also mean “freedom of speech.” Parresia carries nuances that are not easily brought over into English. The person who speaks with parresia will say everything that is on his mind with no restraint, flowing out of his heart with confidence. It involves being frank and honest, hiding nothing and speaking directly to the heart. Most often it is a word used for public speaking. It refers to speech that is not tailored to make everyone happy but to speak the truth, in spite of what that may cost. It is the courage to speak truth into the ears of others. This was reserved for only the highest rank of Greek citizens, not people of other lands or slaves. The right to speak freely was an essential aspect of Athenian democracy. Although it is sometimes associated with negative speech, in this context parresia refers to an unrestrained boldness. There was a Greek idiom that said essentially, “If you tell me the truth no matter what that truth turns out to be, I will not punish you.” This was known as the Parresiastic Contract. See M. Foucault, “Discourse and Truth: The Problematization of Parresia,” six lectures given at the University of California at Berkeley, 1983, ed. by Joseph Pearson in 1985. Parresia is found also in Mark 8:32; John 7:4, 13, 26; 10:24; 11:14, 54; 2 Cor. 3:12; 7:4; Eph. 3:12; 6:19; Phil. 1:20; and numerous other places.

u4:33 Or “mega-grace.”

ak7:45 In Aramaic-Hebrew, the spelling of Joshua and Jesus is the same: Yeshua.

g9:11–12 As translated from the Aramaic, or “Fat Street.” The Greek is “Straight Street.” As the straightest street in the city, this is the main east-west thoroughfare in Damascus, which is known today as Midhat Pasha Souq. Damascus, only 190 miles northeast of Jerusalem, in 2017 has a population of about two million and is considered to be the oldest continually inhabited city in the world. Many remnants of the Roman occupation, including two-thirds of the walls of the city, can still be seen today. The conversion of Saul the legalist into Paul the grace preacher has a significant lesson for us. We can be amazingly wrong while thinking we are doing right. The Holy Spirit awakens our hearts to feast on Christ, our righteousness. Religion has a deadening effect on our hearts. Like Saul, we have to fall off our “high horse” and bite the dust before our blinded eyes can see.

h9:11–12 Tarsus, or Cilicia, is in southeastern Turkey. Tarsus means “a basket.” See v. 25.

k9:11–12 Ananias means “the Lord’s gracious gift.” He truly was the Lord’s gracious gift to Paul, who was healed by God’s gracious gift. The word grace is found 125 times in the New Testament, and Paul uses the word 120 times.

x9:29 Or “Hellenist Jews.” These were Jews who had adopted the Greek culture and language, as opposed to the orthodox Jews, who were strictly following Hebrew culture. The respected historian Josephus writes in AD 44, in his book of Jewish wars, that Greek was not the predominant language spoken in Israel. (See Antiquities xx, xi, 2.) The Hellenists were Jewish immigrants who had lived in Alexandria, Greece, and in Rome. They would have learned Greek culture and language as well as Hebrew.

y9:30 Tarsus was a city in south-central Turkey, about ten miles from the Mediterranean coast. Saul’s family originated from Tarsus, but he grew up in Jerusalem as an orthodox Jew.

ad9:33 Aeneas means “praise.” “Praise” had been paralyzed for eight years. Eight is the number of a new beginning.

af9:36 Or “Dorcas,” which is the Greek word for “deer.” The name Dorcas is also found in v. 39 in the Greek.

ah9:40 The Greek word used here is ekballo, a strong word that can mean “drive out” or “cast out.”

a13:1 The Aramaic word niger means “someone who works with wood, a carpenter.” The Latin word niger means “black.”

p14:12 Hermes was considered to be the messenger god, whom the Romans called Mercury. In Ovid’s famous story Metamorphoses, there is an account of Philemon and Baucis from Lystra, who took in two strangers (Zeus and Hermes) and welcomed them into their home. But the rest of the village rejected them, and for that the village was destroyed—only Philemon and Baucis survived. That story was no doubt in the minds of the people when they welcomed Barnabas and Paul. They did not want to make the same mistake as their ancestors. (See Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.611–725.) Archeologists have found a stone altar near Lystra with an inscription dedicating it to Zeus and Hermes.

d15:5 The Aramaic is “to put a fence around the Torah”; that is, to guard the Torah and keep it as a sacred duty to man. The apostolic council of Acts 15 makes it clear that gentile believers had no obligation to keep that “fence” around the Torah (observing the Mosaic laws).

q15:32 The Aramaic is “an abundant word” or “a rich word.”

t15:34–35 The most reliable Greek manuscripts do not mention Silas remaining in Antioch. However, many manuscripts include this information, such as the Aramaic, codices D and C, the Harklean Syriac Version of AD 616, the Sahidic Version of the second to third centuries, and the St. Ephraim of Syria version of the fourth century. Regardless, v. 40 indicates that Silas did remain behind. An argument could be made that copyists inserted the data in v. 34 to explain the presence of Silas from v. 40.

c16:6 Or “Asia.” This does not refer to the continent of Asia as we know it today, but to the far western and southwestern provinces of Asia Minor (Turkey). d16:6 Or “Phrygia” and “Galatia.” The modern-day capital of Turkey, Ankara, is situated in the area known as Galatia. e16:7 Both Mysia and Bithynia are northwestern regions of Turkey.

The book of Acts is best understood as the book of Activities of the Holy Spirit.

g16:10 Apparently, Luke now joins the missionary team going to Macedonia (which includes parts of modern-day Bulgaria and former Yugoslavia). This is the first instance in Acts of the gospel going to Europe. Luke likely left the group later, as he is not included in the team starting in v. 40. Portions of Acts appear to be Luke’s missionary travel journal.

m16:16 In the religious context of Greek mythology, she was an “oracle,” a medium who had the spirit of the gods speaking through her to foretell the future. The Python spirit was the epithet of Apollo, known as the Greek god of prophecy. An individual (often a young virgin) who became the oracle of Apollo was known as the Python, or Pythia.

d17:6 Although not much about Jason is given here, he is known in church history as Jason of Tarsus, who was one of the seventy apostles Jesus sent out and is named as one of Paul’s ministry companions. See Luke 10:1–11; Rom. 16:21.

k17:18 Stoicism, in contrast to Epicureanism, is a passive determinism of emotional indifference that elevates the virtue of self-control. By mastering human passions and emotions, one could realize peace within himself. The Greek Stoics believed that humans can only reach their full potential when they live by sheer reason and divine principle, or the spark of divinity, which they called logos.

m17:19 The Areopagus was a governing body of intellectuals who were the overseers of Athens. It was equivalent to the board of education, the city council, the ethics committee, the council of foreign relations, and leaders of the religious and philosophical community all rolled into one. The Areopagus, also known as Mars Hill (Mars, or Ares, was the Greek god of war), was not simply a location but a gathering of a council of people overseeing the spiritual atmosphere of Athens. It could best be described as the Greek temple of human thought. The Aramaic here uses the phrase “house of religion.”

t17:28 Paul is quoting two classical Greek writers (ca. 270 BC): Aratus (Phaenomena, 5) and Cleanthes (Hymn to Zeus, 5).

z17:34 As translated from the Aramaic. According to the church historian Eusebius, Dionysius later became the Bishop of Athens (Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiae III: iv). aa17:34 The Greek word can also mean “wife,” indicating she was possibly the wife of Dionysius. Regardless, she must have been a woman of high social standing to be included in the meeting of the leadership council.

c18:3 The Aramaic can also mean “saddle makers.”

h18:8 Crispus was one of the few people Paul baptized. See 1 Cor. 1:14. According to church tradition he became the bishop of Aegina.

j18:12 The province of Achaia included the three most important parts of southern Greece: Attica, Boeotia, and the Peloponnesus. Gallio was the brother of Seneca, the tutor of Nero.

r18:18 Priscilla means “Ancient”; Aquila means “Eagle.”

s18:18 Cenchrea was one of two major ports of Corinth, possibly where agricultural goods were exported, for Cenchrea means “millet,” a grain similar to quinoa.

t18:19 Ephesus was in the ancient world, a white marble city, one of the most beautiful in the world. It had the temple of Artemis, one of the seven great wonders of that era. It also had two agoras, a beautiful fountain in the city supplied by an aqueduct, the monument of Phillio, the Koressian Gates, the Bouleuterion, a large stadium, and many terraced houses. It was the capital city of the Roman province of Asia and had a population of well over one hundred thousand at the time Paul visited the city. Ephesus was known historically as the center of powerful magical practices and the casting of spells, as well as the cult center of the worship of the Ephesian goddess Artemis, known as “the supreme power.” It was in this backdrop that the apostle Paul and his companions planted the renowned church of Ephesus.

q19:19 Or “fifty thousand silver drachmas.” Some historians have said that one lamb would be sold for one silver drachma. The price of a ewe lamb today is about 150 USD. A drachma was one day’s wage, and fifty thousand drachmas would be one hundred years’ wages. The value of the books could have been millions of dollars.

ag19:35 The Aramaic is “the city governor.” The Greek is “city clerk” or “scribe” (or “keeper of the records”). For all practical purposes he would be or represent the mayor of the city.

an20:32 Or “sanctified”; that is, those who are devoted to holiness.

x21:40 Or “Hebrew.” The Hebrew language had been replaced with Aramaic during the Babylonian captivity. For more than a thousand years the Aramaic language remained the language of the Jewish people. Note that Paul did not address the Jewish people in Greek.

h24:24 Drusilla was the youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa I and sister of Agrippa II. As a Jewess, she was likely the source of Felix’s understanding of the Way.

d25:13 Bernice, a Jewess, was the sister of King Agrippa and the older sister of Drusilla, wife of Felix (Acts 24:24).

b26:3 An alternate reading of the Aramaic is “I beg you to allow the Spirit to flow so that you can hear me.”

d27:2 Aristarchus means “the best leader.”

c4:7 See Ps. 32:1. The Hebrew word for “blessed” or “happy” is asher, which carries the meaning of “a happy progress.” See also v. 8.

g11:8 The Aramaic can be translated “a spirit of frustration.”

aq16:23 Quartus is recognized in church history as one of the seventy disciples sent by Jesus. He became the bishop of Beirut. Nikolai Velimirovic wrote that Quartus suffered greatly for his faith and won many converts to Christ through his ministry (Prologue from Ohrid).