Acts 11:27

Famine Relief for Judea

11:27 At that time ¹  some ²  prophets ³  came down ⁴  from Jerusalem ⁵  to Antioch. ⁶ 

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: ⁷  Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, ⁸  Lucius the Cyrenian, ⁹  Manaen (a close friend of Herod ¹⁰  the tetrarch ¹¹  from childhood ¹² ) and Saul.

Acts 15:32

15:32 Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with a long speech. ¹³ 

Revelation 11:10

11:10 And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, even sending gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

¹ tn Grk “In these days,” but the dative generally indicates a specific time.

² tn The word “some” is not in the Greek text, but is usually used in English when an unspecified number is mentioned.

³ sn Prophets are mentioned only here and in 13:1 and 21:10 in Acts.

⁴ 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).

⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁶ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia). See the note in 11:19.

⁷ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

⁸ sn Simeon may well have been from North Africa, since the Latin loanword Niger refers to someone as “dark-complexioned.”

⁹ sn The Cyrenian refers to a native of the city of Cyrene, on the coast of northern Africa west of Egypt.

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ tn Or “the governor.”

¹² 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.”

¹³ tn Here λόγου (logou) is singular. BDAG 599-600 s.v. λόγος 1.a.β has “in a long speech” for this phrase.