Text -- Acts 11:19-26 (NET)

Activity in the Church at Antioch

11:19 Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the message to no one but Jews. 11:20 But there were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene among them who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks too, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus. 11:21 The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 11:22 A report about them came to the attention of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 11:23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with devoted hearts, 11:24 because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and a significant number of people 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. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught a significant number of people. Now it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Act 11:19

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

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.

³ sn Phoenicia was an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine.

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.

sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

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.

map For location see JP1 F2; JP2 F2; JP3 F2; JP4 F2.

⁶ tn Grk “word.”

NET Notes: Act 11:20

¹ sn Cyprus was a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

² sn Cyrene was a city on the northern African coast west of Egypt.

³ 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.

⁴ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

⁵ 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.

NET Notes: Act 11:21

¹ 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.

² 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”).

³ sn Again, the expression turned is a summary term for responding to the gospel.

NET Notes: Act 11:22

¹ tn Grk “Word.”

² 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.

³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.

NET Notes: Act 11:23

¹ 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.

² tn BDAG 883 s.v. προσμένω 1.a.β has “remain true to the Lord” for προσμένειν (prosmenein) in this verse.

sn He…encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord. The call to faithfulness is frequent in Acts (2:40; 14:22; 15:32; 16:39; 20:1-2).

³ tn Grk “with purpose of heart”; BDAG 869 s.v. πρόθεσις 2.a translates this phrase “purpose of heart, i.e. devotion” here.

NET Notes: Act 11:24

¹ tn Grk “a significant crowd.”

NET Notes: Act 11:26

¹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

² 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.

³ tn Grk “year they”; the referents (Barnabas and Saul) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Grk “a significant crowd.”

⁵ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

⁶ sn The term Christians appears only here, in Acts 26:28, and 1 Pet 4:16 in the NT.