Acts 11:19-27

Activity in the Church at Antioch

11:19 Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen ¹  went as far as ²  Phoenicia, ³  Cyprus, ⁴  and Antioch, ⁵  speaking the message ⁶  to no one but Jews. 11:20 But there were some men from Cyprus ⁷  and Cyrene ⁸  among them who came ⁹  to Antioch ¹⁰  and began to speak to the Greeks ¹¹  too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus. 11:21 The ¹²  hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed ¹³  turned ¹⁴  to the Lord. 11:22 A report ¹⁵  about them came to the attention ¹⁶  of the church in Jerusalem, ¹⁷  and they sent Barnabas ¹⁸  to Antioch. ¹⁹  11:23 When ²⁰  he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain true ²¹  to the Lord with devoted hearts, ²²  11:24 because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a significant number of people ²³  were brought to the Lord. 11:25 Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to look for Saul, 11:26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. ²⁴  So ²⁵  for a whole year Barnabas and Saul ²⁶  met with the church and taught a significant number of people. ²⁷  Now it was in Antioch ²⁸  that the disciples were first called Christians. ²⁹ 

Famine Relief for Judea

11:27 At that time ³⁰  some ³¹  prophets ³²  came down ³³  from Jerusalem ³⁴  to Antioch. ³⁵ 

Acts 13:1

The Church at Antioch Commissions Barnabas and Saul

13:1 Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: ³⁶  Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, ³⁷  Lucius the Cyrenian, ³⁸  Manaen (a close friend of Herod ³⁹  the tetrarch ⁴⁰  from childhood ⁴¹ ) and Saul.

Acts 14:26

14:26 From there they sailed back to Antioch, ⁴²  where they had been commended ⁴³  to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. ⁴⁴ 

Acts 15:23

15:23 They sent this letter with them: ⁴⁵ 

From the apostles ⁴⁶  and elders, your brothers, ⁴⁷  to the Gentile brothers and sisters ⁴⁸  in Antioch, ⁴⁹  Syria, ⁵⁰  and Cilicia, greetings!

Acts 15:30

15:30 So when they were dismissed, ⁵¹  they went down to Antioch, ⁵²  and after gathering the entire group ⁵³  together, they delivered the letter.

Acts 15:35

15:35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, ⁵⁴  teaching and proclaiming (along with many others) ⁵⁵  the word of the Lord. ⁵⁶ 

[11:19]  ¹ sn The phrase over Stephen means in connection with Stephen’s death. See Acts 8:1b-3.

[11:19]  ² tn Or “finally reached.” The translations “went as far as” and “finally reached” for διῆλθον (dihlqon) in this verse are given in L&N 15.17.

[11:19]  ³ sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine.

[11:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “and Cyprus,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[11:19]  ⁵ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). This was probably the third largest city in the Greco-Roman world (Alexandria in Egypt was the second largest, and Rome the largest) and was the seat of government in Syria. Five miles away was a major temple to Artemis, Apollo, and Astarte, major pagan deities.

[11:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “word.”

[11:20]  ⁷ sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[11:20]  ⁸ sn Cyrene was a city on the northern African coast west of Egypt.

[11:20]  ⁹ tn Grk “among them, coming to Antioch began to speak.” The participle ἐλθόντες (elqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[11:20]  ¹⁰ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

[11:20]  ¹¹ sn The statement that some men from Cyprus and Cyrene…began to speak to the Greeks shows that Peter’s experience of reaching out to the Gentiles was not unique.

[11:21]  ¹² 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.

[11:21]  ¹³ tn The participle πιστεύσας (pisteusa") is articular and thus cannot be adverbial. It is adjectival, modifying ἀριθμός (ariqmo"), but has been translated into English as a relative clause (“who believed”).

[11:21]  ¹⁴ sn Again, the expression turned is a summary term for responding to the gospel.

[11:22]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Word.”

[11:22]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “was heard in the ears,” an idiom. L&N 24.67 states that the idiom means “to hear in secret” (which it certainly does in Matt 10:27), but secrecy does not seem to be part of the context here, and there is no particular reason to suggest the report was made in secret.

[11:22]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:22]  ¹⁸ tc ‡ Most mss read the infinitive “to travel” after “Barnabas.” διελθεῖν (dielqein) is found before ἕως (Jews) in D E Ψ 33 Ï and some versional mss. It is lacking in Ì⁷⁴ א A B 81 1739 pc and some versional mss. Although the infinitive with ἕως fits Lukan style, it has the appearance of a scribal clarification. The infinitive has the earmarks of a Western expansion on the text and thus is unlikely to be original. NA²⁷ has the infinitive in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[11:22]  ¹⁹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19. Again the Jerusalem church exercised an oversight role.

[11:23]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Antioch, who when.” The relative pronoun was omitted and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.

[11:23]  ²¹ tn BDAG 883 s.v. προσμένω 1.a.β has “remain true to the Lord” for προσμένειν (prosmenein) in this verse.

[11:23]  ²² tn Grk “with purpose of heart”; BDAG 869 s.v. πρόθεσις 2.a translates this phrase “purpose of heart, i.e. devotion” here.

[11:24]  ²³ tn Grk “a significant crowd.”

[11:26]  ²⁴ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

[11:26]  ²⁵ tn Grk “So it happened that” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[11:26]  ²⁶ tn Grk “year they”; the referents (Barnabas and Saul) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:26]  ²⁷ tn Grk “a significant crowd.”

[11:26]  ²⁸ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

[11:26]  ²⁹ sn The term Christians appears only here, in Acts 26:28, and 1 Pet 4:16 in the NT.

[11:27]  ³⁰ tn Grk “In these days,” but the dative generally indicates a specific time.

[11:27]  ³¹ tn The word “some” is not in the Greek text, but is usually used in English when an unspecified number is mentioned.

[11:27]  ³² sn Prophets are mentioned only here and in 13:1 and 21:10 in Acts.

[11:27]  ³³ sn Came down from Jerusalem. Antioch in Syria lies due north of Jerusalem. In Western languages it is common to speak of north as “up” and south as “down,” but the NT maintains the Hebrew idiom which speaks of any direction away from Jerusalem as down (since Mount Zion was thought of in terms of altitude).

[11:27]  ³⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:27]  ³⁵ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

[13:1]  ³⁶ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[13:1]  ³⁷ sn Simeon may well have been from North Africa, since the Latin loanword Niger refers to someone as “dark-complexioned.”

[13:1]  ³⁸ sn The Cyrenian refers to a native of the city of Cyrene, on the coast of northern Africa west of Egypt.

[13:1]  ³⁹ sn Herod is generally taken as a reference to Herod Antipas, who governed Galilee from 4 b.c. to a.d. 39, who had John the Baptist beheaded, and who is mentioned a number of times in the gospels.

[13:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “the governor.”

[13:1]  ⁴¹ tn Or “(a foster brother of Herod the tetrarch).” The meaning “close friend from childhood” is given by L&N 34.15, but the word can also mean “foster brother” (L&N 10.51). BDAG 976 s.v. σύντροφας states, “pert. to being brought up with someone, either as a foster-brother or as a companion/friend,” which covers both alternatives. Context does not given enough information to be certain which is the case here, although many modern translations prefer the meaning “close friend from childhood.”

[14:26]  ⁴² sn Antioch was the city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia) from which Paul’s first missionary journey began (see Acts 13:1-4). That first missionary journey ends here, after covering some 1,400 mi (2,240 km).

[14:26]  ⁴³ tn Or “committed.” BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 2 gives “commended to the grace of God for the work 14:26” as the meaning for this phrase, although “give over” and “commit” are listed as alternative meanings for this category.

[14:26]  ⁴⁴ tn BDAG 829 s.v. πληρόω 5 has “to bring to completion an activity in which one has been involved from its beginning, complete, finish” as meanings for this category. The ministry to which they were commissioned ends with a note of success.

[15:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “writing by their hand” (an idiom for sending a letter).

[15:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “The apostles.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[15:23]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “brothers,” but “your” is supplied to specify the relationship, since without it “brothers” could be understood as vocative in English.

[15:23]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “to the brothers who are from the Gentiles.”

[15:23]  ⁴⁹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:23]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “and Syria,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[15:30]  ⁵¹ tn Or “sent away.”

[15:30]  ⁵² sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:30]  ⁵³ tn Or “congregation” (referring to the group of believers).

[15:35]  ⁵⁴ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:35]  ⁵⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[15:35]  ⁵⁶ sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in v. 36; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.