Acts 13:44

13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city assembled together to hear the word of the Lord. ¹ 

Acts 13:2

13:2 While they were serving ²  the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart ³  for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 1:12

A Replacement for Judas is Chosen

1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem ⁴  from the mountain ⁵  called the Mount of Olives ⁶  (which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey ⁷  away).

Matthew 20:15-16

20:15 Am I not ⁸  permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ⁹  20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

John 4:41-42

4:41 and because of his word many more ¹⁰  believed. 4:42 They said to the woman, “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one ¹¹  really is the Savior of the world.” ¹² 

¹ tc Most mss (B* C E Ψ Ï sy bo) read θεοῦ (qeou, “of God”) here instead of κυρίου (kuriou, “of the Lord”). Other mss, among them some important early witnesses (Ì⁷⁴ א A B² 33 81 323 945 1175 1739 al sa), read κυρίου. The external evidence favors κυρίου, though not decisively. Internally, the mention of “God” in v. 43, and especially “the word of God” in v. 46, would provide some temptation for scribes to assimilate the wording in v. 44 to these texts.

² tn This term is frequently used in the LXX of the service performed by priests and Levites in the tabernacle (Exod 28:35, 43; 29:30; 30:20; 35:19; 39:26; Num 1:50; 3:6, 31) and the temple (2 Chr 31:2; 35:3; Joel 1:9, 13; 2:17, and many more examples). According to BDAG 591 s.v. λειτουργέω 1.b it is used “of other expression of religious devotion.” Since the previous verse described the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, it is probable that the term here describes two of them (Barnabas and Saul) as they were serving in that capacity. Since they were not in Jerusalem where the temple was located, general religious service is referred to here.

³ tn Or “Appoint.”

⁴ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁵ tn Or “from the hill.” The Greek term ὄρος (oros) refers to a relatively high elevation of land in contrast with βουνός (bounos, “hill”).

⁶ sn The Mount of Olives is the traditional name for this mountain, also called Olivet. The Mount of Olives is really a ridge running north to south about 1.8 mi (3 km) long, east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Its central elevation is about 100 ft (30 m) higher than Jerusalem. It was named for the large number of olive trees which grew on it.

⁷ sn The phrase a Sabbath day’s journey refers to the distance the rabbis permitted a person to travel on the Sabbath without breaking the Sabbath, specified in tractate Sotah 5:3 of the Mishnah as 2,000 cubits (a cubit was about 18 inches). In this case the distance was about half a mile (1 km).

⁸ tc ‡ Before οὐκ (ouk, “[am I] not”) a number of significant witnesses read ἤ (h, “or”; e.g., א C W 085 Ë^1,13 33 and most others). Although in later Greek the οι in σοι (oi in soi) – the last word of v. 14 – would have been pronounced like ἤ, since ἤ is lacking in early mss (B D; among later witnesses, note L Z Θ 700) and since mss were probably copied predominantly by sight rather than by sound, even into the later centuries, the omission of ἤ cannot be accounted for as easily. Thus the shorter reading is most likely original. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

⁹ tn Grk “Is your eye evil because I am good?”

¹⁰ tn Or “and they believed much more.”

¹¹ tn Or “this.” The Greek pronoun can mean either “this one” or “this” (BDAG 740 s.v. οὗτος 1).

¹² sn There is irony in the Samaritans’ declaration that Jesus was really the Savior of the world, an irony foreshadowed in the prologue to the Fourth Gospel (1:11): “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.” Yet the Samaritans welcomed Jesus and proclaimed him to be not the Jewish Messiah only, but the Savior of the world.