Acts 18:27

18:27 When Apollos ¹  wanted to cross over to Achaia, ²  the brothers encouraged ³  him ⁴  and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he ⁵  assisted greatly those who had believed by grace,

Acts 18:1

Paul at Corinth

18:1 After this ⁶  Paul ⁷  departed from ⁸  Athens ⁹  and went to Corinth. ¹⁰ 

Colossians 1:3

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ¹¹  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Apollos) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn To cross over to Achaia. Achaia was organized by the Romans as a separate province in 27 b.c. and was located across the Aegean Sea from Ephesus. The city of Corinth was in Achaia.

³ tn Grk “encouraging [him], the brothers wrote.” The participle προτρεψάμενοι (protreyamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This was the typical letter of commendation from the Ephesians to the Achaeans.

⁴ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

⁵ tn Grk “who, when he arrived.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced with the pronoun “he” and a new sentence begun in the translation.

⁶ tn Grk “After these things.”

⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Or “Paul left.”

⁹ map For location see JP1-C2; JP2-C2; JP3-C2; JP4-C2.

¹⁰ sn Corinth was the capital city of the senatorial province of Achaia and the seat of the Roman proconsul. It was located 55 mi (88 km) west of Athens. Corinth was a major rival to Athens and was the largest city in Greece at the time.

¹¹ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).