Acts chapter 2

Verses 22-24:

^.22Adult-males, Israelites, you must hear these words - Jesus the Nazarene, an adult-male having been pointed-out² from God into you with abilities and wonders and signs which God did by means of him in your midst according as you yourselves knew², ^.23this-person - given by the deliberate-determination and foreknowledge of God having been marked-out-definitely² - you eliminated by means of (the) hand of lawless-people having affixed (him), ^.24whom God resurrected having loosened the pangs of death as-because it was not able (for) him to be strongly-held by it,

Peter continues by reminding these people that they were grown-men, and this time he also calls them "Israelites" and thus includes every one of them no matter what part of Israel they may have originally come from. They were to listen to the words he was speaking.

·         “Adult-males, Israelites, you must hear these words – Jesus the Nazarene (Jesus was brought up in Nazareth and called ‘the Nazarene’ even though he was born in Bethlehem),

·         an adult-male (grown man) having been pointed-out and continuing pointed-out from God (demonstrated, exhibited, indicated as pointing-out with God's finger and so made public by God) into (with a view to, directed to) you

o   with abilities (able-powers, capabilities) and wonders (supernatural occurrences) and signs (designated standards or signals showing authenticity)

o   which God did by means of him in your midst (God performed these things through him during his ministry among you) according as you yourselves knew and continue to know (perceive, see to the end of perceiving and knowing with your minds),

…this-person…

·         given by the deliberate-determination and foreknowledge of God (God’s purposed will and advance knowledge)

o   which had been marked out definitely and they remained marked out definitely (the boundary was set by God, the limited-area, the horizon, the boundary separated off) –

…you eliminated (you put him out of your way by killing him) by means of the hand of lawless-people having affixed him (you used the authority and power of those people who do not abide-by nor do they want to abide-by God's law; in this context referring to Roman Gentiles, and they fastened this man to the wooden-stake on which he died)…

·         whom God resurrected (God caused him to stand-up alive) having loosened the pangs of death from him (death being likened to the throes of a woman in labor who cannot stop it nor escape from it; God released Jesus from death’s hold setting him free from it)

·         as-because it was not able (possible) for him to be strongly-held by it (to be held by the forceful strength exerted by death).

The devil's death-power (refer to Hebrews 2:14) was not powerful enough against God's resurrection-power and so God was able to raise Jesus Christ up alive from among the rest of the dead-people!

[Reference: Acts 10:39 and 42, 13:28, 17:26; Romans 1:4.]