Text -- Acts 14:17-28 (NET)

14:17 yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good, by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying you with food and your hearts with joy.” 14:18 Even by saying these things, they scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice to them. 14:19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after winning the crowds over, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead. 14:20 But after the disciples had surrounded him, he got up and went back into the city. On the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria

14:21 After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch. 14:22 They strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom of God through many persecutions.” 14:23 When they had appointed elders for them in the various churches, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the protection of the Lord in whom they had believed. 14:24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came into Pamphylia, 14:25 and when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 14:26 From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. 14:27 When they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported all the things God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles. 14:28 So they spent considerable time with the disciples.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Act 14:17

¹ tn The participle ἀγαθουργῶν (agaqourgwn) is regarded as indicating means here, parallel to the following participles διδούς (didou") and ἐμπιπλῶν (empiplwn). This is the easiest way to understand the Greek structure. Semantically, the first participle is a general statement, followed by two participles giving specific examples of doing good.

² tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

³ tn Grk “satisfying [filling] your hearts with food and joy.” This is an idiomatic expression; it strikes the English reader as strange to speak of “filling one’s heart with food.” Thus the additional direct object “you” has been supplied, separating the two expressions somewhat: “satisfying you with food and your hearts with joy.”

⁴ sn God’s general sovereignty and gracious care in the creation are the way Paul introduces the theme of the goodness of God. He was trying to establish monotheism here. It is an OT theme (Gen 8:22; Ps 4:7; 145:15-16; 147:8-9; Isa 25:6; Jer 5:24) which also appears in the NT (Luke 12:22-34).

NET Notes: Act 14:18

¹ tn The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is regarded as indicating means.

² tn BDAG 524 s.v. καταπαύω 2.b gives both “restrain” and “dissuade someone fr. someth.,” but “they scarcely dissuaded the crowds from offering sacrifice,” while accurate, is less common in contemporary English than saying “they scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice.” Paganism is portrayed as a powerful reality that is hard to reverse.

NET Notes: Act 14:19

¹ sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.

map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2; JP4 E2.

² sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra. Note how Jews from other cities were chasing Paul (2 Cor 11:4-6; Gal 2:4-5; Acts 9:16).

³ tn The participle πείσαντες (peisante") is taken temporally (BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.c).

⁴ tn Grk “stoning Paul they dragged him.” The participle λιθάσαντες (liqasante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

NET Notes: Act 14:20

¹ tn Grk “and entered”; the word “back” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

² tn Grk “And on.” 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.

³ sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra. This was the easternmost point of the journey.

map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2.

NET Notes: Act 14:21

¹ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) northwest of Derbe.

map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2.

² sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra.

³ sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.

map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2; JP4 E2.

NET Notes: Act 14:22

¹ tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”

² sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”

³ sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.

⁴ tn Or “sufferings.”

NET Notes: Act 14:23

¹ sn Appointed elders. See Acts 20:17.

² tn The preposition κατά (kata) is used here in a distributive sense; see BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d.

³ tn Literally with a finite verb (προσευξάμενοι, proseuxamenoi) rather than a noun, “praying with fasting,” but the combination “prayer and fasting” is so familiar in English that it is preferable to use it here.

⁴ tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 3.b has “entrust someone to the care or protection of someone” for this phrase. The reference to persecution or suffering in the context (v. 22) suggests “protection” is a better translation here. This looks at God’s ultimate care for the church.

NET Notes: Act 14:24

¹ tn Grk “Then passing through Pisidia they came.” The participle διελθόντες (dielqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

² sn Pamphylia was a province along the southern coast of Asia Minor.

NET Notes: Act 14:25

¹ tn Or “message.”

² sn Perga was a city in Pamphylia near the southern coast of Asia Minor.

³ sn Attalia was a seaport in the province of Pamphylia on the southern coast of Asia Minor, about 12 mi (20 km) southwest of Perga.

NET Notes: Act 14:26

¹ 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).

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

² 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.

³ 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.

NET Notes: Act 14:27

¹ tn Or “announced.”

² sn Note that God is the subject of the activity. The outcome of this mission is seen as a confirmation of the mission to the Gentiles.

³ sn On the image of opening, or of the door, see 1 Cor 16:9; 2 Cor 2:12; Col 4:3.

NET Notes: Act 14:28

¹ tn BDAG 238 s.v. διατρίβω gives the meaning as “spend” when followed by an accusative τὸν χρόνον (ton cronon) which is the case here.

² tn Grk “no little (time)” (an idiom).