16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying 12 and singing hymns to God, 13 and the rest of 14 the prisoners were listening to them.
18:5 Now when Silas and Timothy arrived 23 from Macedonia, 24 Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming 25 the word, testifying 26 to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 27
1 tn This verb has been translated as an epistolary aorist.
2 sn Judas and Silas were the “two witnesses” who would vouch for the truth of the recommendation.
3 tn Grk “by means of word” (an idiom for a verbal report).
4 tn Here λόγου (logou) is singular. BDAG 599-600 s.v. λόγος 1.a.β has “in a long speech” for this phrase.
5 tc A few
6 tn Or “committed.” BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 2 gives “be commended by someone to the grace of the Lord” as the meaning for this phrase, although “give over” and “commit” are listed as alternatives for this category.
7 tn Grk “by the brothers.” Here it it is highly probable that the entire congregation is in view, not just men, so the translation “brothers and sisters” has been used for the plural ἀδελφῶν (adelfwn),.
8 tn Or “masters.”
9 tn On this use of ἐργασία (ergasia), see BDAG 390 s.v. 4. It is often the case that destructive practices and commerce are closely tied together.
10 tn Grk “was gone, seizing.” The participle ἐπιλαβόμενοι (epilabomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
11 tn On the term ἕλκω ({elkw) see BDAG 318 s.v. 1.
12 tn Grk “praying, were singing.” The participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
13 sn Praying and singing hymns to God. Tertullian said, “The legs feel nothing in the stocks when the heart is in heaven” (To the Martyrs 2; cf. Rom 5:3; Jas 1:2; 1 Pet 5:6). The presence of God means the potential to be free (cf. v. 26).
14 tn The words “the rest of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
15 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the jailer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Or “and prostrated himself.”
17 tn Or “convinced.”
18 tn Or “a large crowd.”
19 tn Or “of devout Greeks,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Luke frequently mentions such people (Acts 13:43, 50; 16:14; 17:17; 18:7).
20 tn Grk “not a few”; this use of negation could be misleading to the modern English reader, however, and so has been translated as “quite a few” (which is the actual meaning of the expression).
21 map For location see JP1-C2; JP2-C2; JP3-C2; JP4-C2.
22 sn They left. See 1 Thess 3:1-2, which shows they went from here to Thessalonica.
23 tn Grk “came down.”
24 sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.
25 tn BDAG 971 s.v. συνέχω 6 states, “συνείχετο τῷ λόγῳ (Paul) was wholly absorbed in preaching Ac 18:5…in contrast to the activity cited in vs. 3.” The imperfect συνείχετο (suneiceto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“became wholly absorbed…”), stressing the change in Paul’s activity once Silas and Timothy arrived. At this point Paul apparently began to work less and preach more.
26 tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 2 has “testify of, bear witness to solemnly (orig. under oath)…W. acc. and inf. foll. Ac 18:5.”
27 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”