11:19 Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen 1 went as far as 2 Phoenicia, 3 Cyprus, 4 and Antioch, 5 speaking the message 6 to no one but Jews.
10:1 Jesus 28 called his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits 29 so they could cast them out and heal every kind of disease and sickness. 30
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.
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.
6 tn Grk “word.”
7 tn Or “who would not believe.”
8 tn Or “embittered their minds” (Grk “their souls”). BDAG 502 s.v. κακόω 2 has “make angry, embitter τὰς ψυχάς τινων κατά τινος poison the minds of some persons against another Ac 14:2.”
9 tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
10 sn The Lord testified to the message by granting the signs described in the following clause.
11 tn Grk “word.”
12 tn Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned.
13 tn BDAG 825 s.v. πλῆθος 2.b.γ has this translation for πλῆθος (plhqo").
14 tn These clauses are a good example of the contrastive μὲν…δέ (men…de) construction: Some “on the one hand” sided with the Jews, but some “on the other hand” sided with the apostles.
15 tn Grk “So there came about an attempt” 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.
16 tn On this verb see BDAG 1022 s.v. ὑβρίζω.
17 tn The direct object “them” is repeated after both verbs in the translation for stylistic reasons, although it occurs only after λιθοβολῆσαι (liqobolhsai) in the Greek text.
18 tn Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 tn Grk “learning about it, fled.” The participle συνιδόντες (sunidonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. It could also be taken temporally (“when they learned about it”) as long as opening clause of v. 5 is not translated as a temporal clause too, which results in a redundancy.
20 sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) south of Iconium, a Roman colony that was not on the main roads of Lycaonia. Because of its relative isolation, its local character was able to be preserved.
21 sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra.
22 tn Grk “region, and there.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, καί (kai) has not been translated and a new sentence begun in the translation.
23 tn The periphrastic construction εὐαγγελιζόμενοι ἦσαν (euangelizomenoi hsan) has been translated as a progressive imperfect.
24 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
25 tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.”
26 tn Grk “For truly (ἀμήν, amhn) I say to you.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.
27 tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.” “Town” was chosen here to emphasize the extensive nature of the disciples’ ministry. The same word is translated earlier in the verse as “place.”
28 tn Grk “And he.”
29 sn Unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.
30 tn Grk “and every [kind of] sickness.” Here “every” was not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
31 tn Or “in its rising,” referring to the astrological significance of a star in a particular portion of the sky. The term used for the “East” in v. 1 is ἀνατολαί (anatolai, a plural form that is used typically of the rising of the sun), while in vv. 2 and 9 the singular ἀνατολή (anatolh) is used. The singular is typically used of the rising of a star and as such should not normally be translated “in the east” (cf. BDAG 74 s.v. 1: “because of the sg. and the article in contrast to ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν, vs. 1, [it is] prob. not a geograph. expr. like the latter, but rather astronomical…likew. vs. 9”).