only twice in Matthew, six or seven times in Mark. Verses 21–22 [Peter says:] "Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning ('arxamenos') from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness ('martyra') with us of His resurrection." "Went in and out": is a "Semitism or Septuagintalism" expression (cf. ), comparable to the English phrase "comings and goings". "Beginning" (Greek: , ): The "baptism" of John" to "that day when He was taken up from us" (ascension) mark the scope for the story of Jesus, with an emphasis on "His resurrection". In Acts 10, Luke notes Peter preaching the gospel using "precisely the same parameters" also using arxamenos ("began") with the claim of being a witness (accusative Greek: , ; plural: martyres) specifically to the resurrection (Acts 10:36-42). [Peter preaches to Cornelius and his household:] "The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all— that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began ('arxamenos') from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses ('martyres') of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." The apostles proceed by asking God as the only resource to 'indicate' his choice through the casting of lots (verse 26), which is a familiar mean to ascertain divine purpose in both the Graeco-Roman world and the Bible, to get Matthias "numbered with the eleven apostles" (verse 26). Verse