Acts 15:13–16

15:13 After they stopped speaking,37 James replied,38 “Brothers, listen to me. 15:14 Simeon39 has explained40 how God first concerned himself41 to select42 from among the Gentiles43 a people for his name. 15:15 The44 words of the prophets agree45 with this, as it is written,

15:16 ‘After this46 I47 will return,

and I will rebuild the fallen tent48 of David;

I will rebuild its ruins and restore49 it,

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37	tn BDAG 922 s.v. σιγάω 1.b lists this passage under the meaning “stop speaking, become silent.”
38	tn Grk “answered, saying”; the redundant participle λέγων (legōn) has not been translated.
39	sn Simeon is a form of the apostle Peter’s Aramaic name. James uses Peter’s “Jewish” name here.
40	tn Or “reported,” “described.”
41	tn BDAG 378 s.v. ἐπισκέπτομαι 3 translates this phrase in Acts 15:14, “God concerned himself about winning a people fr. among the nations.”
42	tn Grk “to take,” but in the sense of selecting or choosing (accompanied by the preposition ἐκ [ek] plus a genitive specifying the group selected from) see Heb 5:1; also BDAG 584 s.v. λαμβάνω 6.
43	sn In the Greek text the expression “from among the Gentiles” is in emphatic position.
44	tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
45	sn The term agree means “match” or “harmonize with.” James’ point in the introduction argues that many of the OT prophets taught this. He gives one example (which follows).
46	tn Grk “After these things.”
47	sn The first person pronoun I refers to God and his activity. It is God who is doing this.
48	tn Or more generally, “dwelling”; perhaps, “royal tent.” According to BDAG 928 s.v. σκηνή the word can mean “tent” or “hut,” or more generally “lodging” or “dwelling.” In this verse (a quotation from Amos 9:11) BDAG refers this to David’s ruined kingdom; it is possibly an allusion to a king’s tent (a royal tent). God is at work to reestablish David’s line (Acts 2:30–36; 13:32–39).
49	tn BDAG 86 s.v. ἀνορθόω places this verb under the meaning “to build someth. up again after it has fallen, rebuild, restore,” but since ἀνοικοδομέω (anoikodomeō, “rebuild”) has occurred twice in this verse already, “restore” is used here.

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